W. T. Benda, from his book. c.1943

Wladyslaw Theodor Benda studied art in his native Poland and Austria before emigrating to the United States at the very end of the 19th century.  He was primarily a graphic artist, Illustrating books, short stories, advertising copy, and magazine covers for Collier's, McCall's, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Theatre Magazine, and many others.  Many publisherss regarded Benda as their  go-to artist for his dependability and artistic abilities.  In his time he was as well known as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth or Maxfield Parrish. Although in the 1920s and 30s every publication wanted the look of "The American Girl," Benda's beautiful women were exotic and mysterious, not homespun pretty like Fishers', Phillips', or Christy's girls. They were darkly alluring, more foreign, and yet managed to step beyond the norms of his day. 

Benda was also well known as a maskmaker and costume designer. His sculpted, paper-mache face masks were used in plays and dances and often in his own paintings and illustrations (see 2, 4 & 5 above). They were used in Masques or Miracle Plays in New York City at venues like the Coffee House. Benda also created the masks for stage productions in New York and London for such writers as Eugene O'Neil and Noel Coward.  He became so well known as a maskmaker that his name became synonymous for any life-like mask.  Like Google (tm) is to web searching or Coke (tm) is to soft drinks, any life-like mask was often referred to as a "Benda mask" whether it was of his design and making or not. Benda also created "grotesque" masks, which were more fantasy or caricature in nature.

Two masks by W. T. Benda

    

W. T. Benda with a grotesque mask,
and the dancer Margaret Severn with a lifelike mask.

Articles by and about Benda and his masks appeared regularly in many of the same magazines and publications of the day that bore his illustrations.  In the 1930s Benda authored the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on masks. He also wrote the 1944 book Masks, a study of his own designs and unique construction techniques. 

 Masks  shown with dust jacket (left) and without.

A page from the book Masks   showing Benda's unusual technique.

I first became interested in Benda a few years ago when I learned of his book, which is somewhat rare and therefore hard to find. I now own three copies, including one that is inscribed and autographed by Benda.  His masks are even rarer - only a few hundred were made by Benda in his lifetime. I held a fond, wistful desire to discover and own one of his masks, but the only versions I could find were either well beyond my means at the time, or not for sale.

Through an odd set of quirky circumstances, in the Spring of 2003 I happened to be on eBay, in a rare visit after months of not browsing their listings.  About to sign off, I randomly did a search on Benda's name hoping perhaps to find a magazine article or illustration.  To my complete amazement, one of Benda's masks had been listed only hours before!  It was on a five-day listing, and if I hadn't looked when I did I would never have known of the offering. I emailed the seller, did a bit of research and eventually became the winner bidder of Helenka.

Helenka, 1946 by W.T.Benda

Although this mask does not appear in his book, she appears to be in perfect condition and quite authentic, from the gold-leafed hair to the red Japaning on the inner surface.  She's signed and dated on the inside, and there are two handwritten labels affixed: one simply says "Helenka" and the other has the price "$800.00."  Both seem contemporary to the artist and may be in his hand.  $800.00 may be the price that Benda sold it for, or it may be the price when it changed hands in the 1950s.  To the best of my knowledge, I am the fourth owner (including Benda).

I'm always looking for more works by Benda, especially his masks or anything mask related (sketches, articles, etc.)  If you have a mask for sale, write me!  I'm also interested in artworks, articles, photos, personal items and anything else related to W. T. Benda and his work.  If you have but don't want to sell an item, I'd be interested in photocopies of articles and/or photographs of his other works, especially masks - and especially  masks not shown in his book or in published articles.  And I'm always happy to hear from fellow Benda fans!

For an in-depth article on Benda and his work, see Illustration Magazine #13 - I was privileged to be of some assistance and learned much more about the man when the article was published.  Click here for their website, and select the archives.

In addition, The Kosciuszko Foundation in NYC has information about Benda and holds several of his works.

Home | Masks | Mask Care | Shows | Bio | Links | Scenes | Ordering | Email