Lester W. Bentley

Please click this post to read about the location, hours, history and bio of Lester W. Bentley.
Lester W. Bentley was born in Two Rivers, WI and died at age 64 in 1972. He did an amazing amount of art in a variety of media.
To see a complete biography, please continue reading this post.
The Bentley artwork owned by the Two Rivers, WI Historical Society can be seen at Washington House Museum and Visitors Center, 1622 Jefferson Street in Two Rivers, Wisconsin during open hours.
The museum is open May 23 - October 31
Thursday through Monday 12 to 6 pm
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
The entire Bentley collection of art is now at the Washington House Museum.
Page administrated by Jeanne (Niquette) Mease, Bentley Committee Chairman and board member of the Two Rivers Historical Society.
BIOGRAPHY OF LESTER W. BENTLEY
Born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, Lester Bentley decided he wanted to be an artist at an early age. His first exhibit was at the Manitowoc county fair. The thirteen-year-old eighth grade student, earned two firsts and two seconds in competition with professional artists.
While working as a sign painter, he was urged to apply for a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago by the Two Rivers High School art teacher, Bonnie (Nahrath) Zuehl. His talent was recognized, he was awarded the scholarship and continued to receive it for four years including the first ever for post graduate work.
His travels took him to Haiti, Florida, Georgia and Mexico where he learned the egg tempera technique. During the summers of 1933-1934 he taught art at Two Rivers and Manitowoc Vocational Schools and completed murals for Sacred Heart Church in Two Rivers. In 1935 he worked for the WPA’s Federal Arts Project and in 1942 competed for the commission to paint murals for the new DePere (WI) Post Office. The subject was to be the burning of the St. Francis Xavier mission in 1687. He painted three pieces as a triptych; the first is of Father Claude Allouez blessing a corn field, one is a settler carrying a dying convert out of the fire, and the third of Nicholas Perrot paddling a canoe in the Fox River. These are now displayed at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay.
During World War II, Chief Petty Officer Bentley produced art as his service in the U.S. Coast Guard. His most famous works of this time were his recruitment posters. His original SPARS, a woman in the U.S. Coast Guard, is currently displayed at the Washington House Museum in Two Rivers, WI. He also painted portraits of military officers until his discharge in 1946. After the war he stayed in White Plains, New York where he met and married Constance Lolien. They eventually moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, buying a home and a studio in 1953 and returning to his summer studio in Two Rivers. When this location was torn down, he opened a studio in Door County.
Eventually specializing in portraiture, Bentley worked for Portraits Inc. in New York and did private commissions. Among his subjects were: President Dwight D. Eisenhower (the Two Rivers collection includes one of the two that were painted), U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William O. Douglas, four Wisconsin Governors and University of Wisconsin president Conrad Elvehjem. His portraits and paintings are said to be represented in over 300 private and public collections though this number continues to grow as more pieces are discovered. Bentley was also an accomplished lithographer and an art teacher.
Bentley has been represented in many important shows such as the Carnegie, the San Francisco, Chicago and New York World’s Fairs, American Annual and Chicago show at the Art Institute of Chicago and his work was displayed at the National Gallery in London and the Kremlin in Moscow.
In addition to the displays seen here in Two Rivers, WI Bentley’s work can be found in the permanent collections of Columbia University, and in these Wisconsin museums: the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Rahr-West Museum in Manitowoc, Washington House Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin State Historical Society and Chazen Museum of Art-University of Wisconsin both in Madison, the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend (MOWA), and the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay.
A hidden wrap-around mural was discovered in 2015 during the investigation of a leaky skylight at the former home of Ruth and John West in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Over three years went into research and professional restoration, and as of the summer of 2019, the mural room at West of the Lake Gardens is open to the public (summer only). More of Bentley's artwork continues to emerge in private collections.