J. Benjamin Townsend was an art critic and historian from Buffalo, N.Y. Townsend served as assistant director of the National Portrait Gallery (1967-1968) and professor of art and literature at the State University of New York, Buffalo (1957-1983). Among his publications are JOHN DAVIDSON, POET OF THE ARMAGEDDON, Yale (1961) and THE BUFFALO FINE ARTS ACADEMY (1862-1962), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (1962).