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Ben Austrian (1870-1921)

Ben Austrian left school at the age of fifteen and worked as a salesman for several years, while teaching himself to be an artist. He helped promote the business by giving every person that placed an order-no matter how small- an original painting.

Ben Austrian's painting career began by exhibiting a trompe l'oeil painting called A Day's Hunt that received attention in Philadelphia. However, Austrian's success came from his paintings of chickens. In 1902 he went to Paris, where he opened a studio and in London he was acclaimed "The Landseer of Chickens."

One of his chickens became the famous trademark for the Bon Ami slogan - "hasn't scratched yet."

Ben Austrian paintings for the advertisements were full-color oils. Unfortunately at the height of his success he died of a stroke in 1921. Source: askart.com

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