BEN AUSTRIAN

Ben Austrian was a native Pennsylvanian from Reading, who lived there all his life. As a child, he was encouraged by his mother in drawing and painting, and some of his earliest works were of farmyard chicks. The love of animals permeates his work, and the artist’s subjects include hens and their chicks, cats, dogs, horses, game and the occasional fruit still life. Austrian’s trompe l’oeil game pieces, like From Old Virginia, are the crowning achievements of his career.