The Life and Art of Benjamin Patersen Born in Varberg to a family of customs clerks, Benjamin Patersen was a Swedish-born Russian painter and engraver. After studying art in Gothenburg under Simon Fick, he became a member of the Local Art Society. His early travels took him through Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, including a period from 1774 to 1786 where he resided and worked in Riga. In 1787, he moved to St. Petersburg, eventually ma…