Benton Spruance (1904-1967)

AKA: Benton Murdoch Spruance
Born: 1904; Philadelphia
Died: November 7, 1967; Philadelphia
Nationality: American

Biography of Benton Spruance

Benton Spruance, internationally known artist and a pioneer in color lithography is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Spruance became an expert technician in color lithography and also known for his landscape and genre painting.

While attending architectural classes at the University of Pennsylvania, he developed an interest in graphic sketching, which eventually led him to win a competitive scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Over the years, he was a recipient of a long list of awards and fellowships including two Cresson Scholarships to travel in Europe and two Guggenheim grants.

In 1967, the Philadelphia College of Art held a special retrospective exhibition of his lithographs in honor of his “distinguished achievement as an artist and as a member of their faculty.” During his long career, Mr. Spruance had served for many years on the Philadelphia Art Commission. For 34 years, he was chairman of the Fine Arts Department of Beaver College in Philadelphia and later director of graphic arts at the Philadelphia College of Art.

His art is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, the New York Public Library, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Carnegie Institute.

Benton Spruance died on November 7, 1967 at the age of 63.