NEW YORK – Many artists are famous for the subjects they most often painted: Mary Cassatt for mother and baby, Guy Wiggins for New York City snow scenes, Edouard Cortes for Parisian streetscapes, and Ben Austrian for…..chickens! Austrian (1870-1921) carved out a highly successful career for himself as a trompe l’oeil, still life and landscape painter, but is, by far, best known for his intimate, realistic depictions of barnyard life, especially hens and chicks, which he painted from observation with a high attention to detail and sophisticated brushwork.
Ben Austrian was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and lived there his entire life, although late in life he and his wife bought a second home in Palm Beach, Florida, where he painted well-received landscapes of palm trees and beaches. His father, Raphael Austrian, was in the dry goods business and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But Ben, who did work for his father as a traveling salesman from age 15 to around age 16, had other ideas. He had long held an interest in art and was encouraged by his mother.
During his time on the road as a salesman, he broadened his horizons by visiting museums in New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and St. Louis. All the while, he continued to paint as a self-taught artist, and promoted the family business by giving every person who placed a dry goods order, no matter how small, an original painting. Upon his father’s death in 1897, Ben sold the dry goods company and focused on art. His love of animals permeated his work from a very young age, with chickens a preferred subject. He enjoyed immediate success.
In 1899, Austrian tried his hand at trompe l’oeil (trick of the eye) hanging game pieces, which had only recently become popular. His painting titled A Day’s Hunt was enthusiastically received, and another early effort, Coal Black Lady, was acquired by the Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker for his personal collection. In 1902, Austrian went to Europe and opened a studio in Paris. His fame spread throughout Europe as a painter of chickens, ducks and other barnyard fowl, and in London he was given the nickname “The Landseer of Chickens.”
Austrian’s recurring themes of animals and country life appealed to the urban public’s yearning for a simpler, less-complicated life. A huge break came in 1900, when his paintings of chicks were used as part of an advertising campaign for Bon Ami, a company known for its scouring powders. The company is still in business today, and its cleanser still bears the image of Austrian’s painting of a newly hatched peep, with the slogan, “Chick That Hasn’t Scratched Yet.”
Ron Pook, co-founder of Pook & Pook, Inc., in Downingtown, Pa., said Ben Austrian was not a one-trick pony, but close to it. “He was clever enough to use his fame as the Bon Ami scrubbing powder chick artist to carve out a nice, lucrative niche for himself, painting cute scenes of puppies and chicks, chicks pulling on worms and the like. He spent winters in Florida and painted simple scenes of palm trees for northern tourists – not real exciting. The man was basically an illustrator.”
Jamie Shearer, an appraiser at Pook & Pook, said most people tend to stick with what they’re good at. “The same applies to artists. They paint things they’re good at. There’s a comfort in knowing past successes will probably lead to future successes. Ben Austrian became successful painting chickens, thanks in large measure to the Bon Ami ad campaign. But I also think he would still have been a successful painter had he not found success in chickens. His dogs, cats and even palm trees still garner attention in the auction world.”
“It was his creation of the chick in the Bon Ami cleanser ads that led to a crossover market and more work in advertising,” said Brent Souder, Sales Director for Alderfer Auction in Hatfield, Pa. “He was very talented and gifted in his life-like, almost three-dimensional representations of hens and chicks, plus, on occasion, dogs and cats. Also not to be overlooked are his illuminated and almost eerie depictions of the swamps in South Florida. These have become some of the more rare and desired subjects in recent years.”
Regarding market demand for Ben Austrian artworks, Mr. Souder commented, “Over the past decade we’ve seen a price correction in Austrian’s hens and chicks, but what have we not seen corrections in? I feel the changes in decorating and demographics are the major contributors of this. Still, his works have been shown and sold by the Reading Museum of Art, and featured at many shows by Greshville Antiques and Fine Art, and many others. These factors all create awareness and desire.”
Ron Pook said the current demand for Austrian’s work is, “unfortunately, much diminished due to lack of interest [from buyers] in the Berks County, Pennsylvania area, which supported his prices for generations. He will always have a following, however, as people love chicks and chickens versus cows. While he did paint landscapes, they are not brilliant and do not command high prices.”
Jamie Shearer remarked that any artist who sells paintings consistently in the five figures and has a top record approaching six figures has developed a following. “The buying market has determined that he was, indeed, good at his trade when, one hundred years after his paintings were done, they produce the prices that they currently bring. While known for his chickens, I don’t think he was limited to success with just to that genre. The highest auction price recorded for one of his paintings does not even have a chicken in sight, but rather a cat and dog, which we sold for over $80,000. In fact, two of his top four auction records did not include chickens.”
Shearer concluded, “The current market for Ben Austrian’s works, like a lot of antiques, is not what it once was. The buying public has gravitated to a more modern look for artwork. Depictions of farm life with chickens, cows and sheep are subjects that simply don’t resonate strongly with the younger generation. I suspect the market for his work will remain where it currently is over the next few years and in the more distant future I see it falling even further.”
There would be far more examples of Ben Austrian’s work on the market today had he not died tragically of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 51.
# # #
