It is believed that Bennett received his first lessons in art from David Cox.
[1] In 1848 he was made a member of the New Water-Colour Society, and contributed landscapes, chiefly of English scenery, to their exhibitions, until his death in 1871.
[2] Bennett learnt from Cox the ability to draw with speed, and worked with a restricted range of colours, achieving his artistic effect by "the quickest and most dexterous use of a large brush full of colour dashed with hurried certainty over the roughest paper".
In this way he achieved the effect of portraying the initial impact of the scene to the artist, but at the expense of accuracy.
[3] Bennett lived for a period at "Milford Lodge", New Park Road, in Clapham Park, London (the house has since been demolished); next door but one to David Cox Jnr and his family, who lived at "no.