George Alexis Weymouth
Encyclopedia
George Alexis Weymouth, known better as “Frolic” Weymouth, is an American
artist, whip or stager, and conservationist
. He lives in and protects the Brandywine Valley.
Company, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont
. She married Frolic’s father, entrepreneur George Tyler Weymouth.
Weymouth was christened George Alexis Weymouth. Shortly after his birth, his brother, Eugene lost his foxhound. After repeatedly asking his mother “Where’s Frolic?” his exasperated mother replied, “Here’s your damn Frolic,” and thrust George before Gene. Thus Weymouth is named after a dog and the common misconception that the name resulted from his conception is incorrect.
Weymouth was quite close to Andrew Wyeth
and his family through his artistry. He was married to Anna Brelsford McCoy
, Andrew Wyeth’s niece and herself an artist. They divorced in 1979. Jamie Wyeth
, Andrew Wyeth’s son, married Weymouth’s cousin Phyllis.
Weymouth has painted portraits of Luciano Pavarotti
(1982) and later, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
(1995), Queen Elizabeth’s husband, which hangs in Windsor Castle
. Weymouth was selected by NASA to paint at Cape Kennedy during the moon shots.
There is an excellent catalog of his paintings from a 2001 exhibition of his works. The paintings mentioned here and many more are depicted.
Through his circle of fellow artists, Weymouth became a close friend of Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. Weymouth was the confidant who discretely hid Andrew Wyeth’s nudes of Prussian-born neighbor and caretaker Helga Testorf for 17 years before they became public. In the 2004 documentary “The Way Back: A Portrait of George A. Weymouth,” Andrew Wyeth said he didn’t “know of anyone who means as much to me.”
In 1969, Weymouth donated his property to the Brandywine Conservancy as its first conservation easement. His home, Big Bend, surrounded by Brandywine Creek
on three sides, is just inside Pennsylvania at the northern Delaware border. The period-furnished 1750s stone house is surrounded by gardens. His donation inspired the Hon. Harry G. Haskell Jr., Ford B. Draper and Jamie Wyeth
to follow suit. The four easements protected almost 340 acres (1.4 km²) and 5 1/2 miles along the Brandywine Creek.
In 1984, the King Ranch
in Pennsylvania went to market. Rumored buyers included a nuclear power plant
, Disney and a real estate developer. Weymouth organized a conservation team to purchase the 5380 acres (21,772,106.8 m²) for $11.5 million. The land is now conserved and includes the 775 acres (3.1 km²) Laurels Preserve.
In 1971, a huge mill along the Brandywine went up for sale. Through a communication error during the auction Weymouth and the Conservancy acquired it as future museum space. Weymouth has been chairman of the Conservency’s Brandywine River Museum
since it opened in 1971.
He initiated and always leads the coaching event at Winterthur Museum’s Point-to-Point in Delaware. He has permanently retired a trophy at the Devon Horse Show
in Pennsylvania. In the summer of 1985, he spent three months in England and managed to drive a carriage 1000 miles (1,609.3 km). He whipped another 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) in France.
For one of his more spectacular drives, he drove from Manhattan
's Upper East Side to Saratoga Springs, New York
and then on to Shelburne, Vermont
. Carriages are not uncommon around Central Park
but taking the carriage through Harlem
was a sensation.
Weymouth maintains “it’s no big deal” being a du Pont. In 2000, 3,700 members of the du Pont family
attended a reunion at Longwood Gardens
. Several years later he wondered “How many there are now? Du Ponts have always been busy in bed.”
In a conversation about Andy Warhol, Jamie Wyeth expressed the opinion that Frolic Weymouth was the “real character.”
Weymoth has surrounded himself with art and gardens. A wonderful photograph of the back of Big Bend is available. A centerpiece in Weymouth’s Big Bend is “The Vidette,” an enormous painting of a horseman in the snow dating from 1912. This N.C. Wyeth masterpiece is occasionally on loan for exhibitions. Anna Hyatt Huntington
’s “Greyhounds Playing” graces the garden. Elsewhere, a carved wooden Indonesian fertility bench features two interlocked monkeys, highlighting Weymouth’s admitted fascination with fornication.
Each evening, Weymouth names one beautiful thing he saw that day. “Then, the rest of the ugliness goes away.”
to the Commission of Fine Arts
1974 Serves on the Visual Arts Panel of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
1981 Receives the University of Delaware
merit award for community service
1989 Receives National Society of Fund Raising Executives’ Outstanding Fund Raising
Volunteer award
1990 Receives the National Arts Club
annual award
1999 Receives Cliveden Heritage Preservation award
2000 Receives Garden Clubs of America special citation award for exemplary service in the field of conservation and environmental protection
1991 George A. Weymouth: A Retrospective at the Jacksonville Art Museum
2001 George A. Weymouth: Landscapes and Portraits of Brandywine at the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University
, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
A wonderful photograph of the back of Big Bend is available at the link of reference 8.
A photograph of "The Vidette" is available at the link of reference 9.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist, whip or stager, and conservationist
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
. He lives in and protects the Brandywine Valley.
Heredity and name
His mother, Dulcinea (Deo) Ophelia Payne du Pont (1909) was the oldest of Eugene du Pont, Jr.’s four daughters making Frolic six generations removed from the founder of the DuPontDuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
Company, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours , known as Irénée du Pont, or E.I. du Pont, was a French-born Huguenot chemist and industrialist who immigrated to the United States in 1799 and founded the gunpowder manufacturer, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company...
. She married Frolic’s father, entrepreneur George Tyler Weymouth.
Weymouth was christened George Alexis Weymouth. Shortly after his birth, his brother, Eugene lost his foxhound. After repeatedly asking his mother “Where’s Frolic?” his exasperated mother replied, “Here’s your damn Frolic,” and thrust George before Gene. Thus Weymouth is named after a dog and the common misconception that the name resulted from his conception is incorrect.
Weymouth was quite close to Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century....
and his family through his artistry. He was married to Anna Brelsford McCoy
Anna Brelsford McCoy
Anna Brelsford McCoy is an American artist. While she is clearly of the Brandywine School of art, she has developed her own distinctive style.-Links to the Brandywine School:...
, Andrew Wyeth’s niece and herself an artist. They divorced in 1979. Jamie Wyeth
Jamie Wyeth
James Browning Wyeth is a contemporary American realist painter. He was raised in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania, son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth...
, Andrew Wyeth’s son, married Weymouth’s cousin Phyllis.
Artist
Weymouth’s early work, done in egg tempera, was often highly personal. His portrait of his grandfather, Eugene du Pont, features the fine detail of a herringbone suit coat and the worn fabric of a favorite recliner. His “The Way Back” (1963) is a self-portrait of only his hands guiding a single horse carriage up the lane to Big Bend, his home on the Brandywine.Weymouth has painted portraits of Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
(1982) and later, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
(1995), Queen Elizabeth’s husband, which hangs in Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
. Weymouth was selected by NASA to paint at Cape Kennedy during the moon shots.
There is an excellent catalog of his paintings from a 2001 exhibition of his works. The paintings mentioned here and many more are depicted.
Through his circle of fellow artists, Weymouth became a close friend of Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. Weymouth was the confidant who discretely hid Andrew Wyeth’s nudes of Prussian-born neighbor and caretaker Helga Testorf for 17 years before they became public. In the 2004 documentary “The Way Back: A Portrait of George A. Weymouth,” Andrew Wyeth said he didn’t “know of anyone who means as much to me.”
Conservationist
In the mid-1960s, Weymouth convinced F.I. du Pont and William Prickett to help him buy two parcels along the Brandywine that were threatened with industrial development. This purchase led to the founding of the Brandywine Conservancy, a unique environmental, arts and cultural preservation organization. Frolic has been the Chairman of the Board since then.In 1969, Weymouth donated his property to the Brandywine Conservancy as its first conservation easement. His home, Big Bend, surrounded by Brandywine Creek
Brandywine Creek
Brandywine Creek is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine is long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams...
on three sides, is just inside Pennsylvania at the northern Delaware border. The period-furnished 1750s stone house is surrounded by gardens. His donation inspired the Hon. Harry G. Haskell Jr., Ford B. Draper and Jamie Wyeth
Jamie Wyeth
James Browning Wyeth is a contemporary American realist painter. He was raised in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania, son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth...
to follow suit. The four easements protected almost 340 acres (1.4 km²) and 5 1/2 miles along the Brandywine Creek.
In 1984, the King Ranch
King Ranch
King Ranch, located in south Texas between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, is one of the world's largest ranches. The ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, includes portions of six Texas counties, including most of Kleberg County and much of Kenedy County, with...
in Pennsylvania went to market. Rumored buyers included a nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
, Disney and a real estate developer. Weymouth organized a conservation team to purchase the 5380 acres (21,772,106.8 m²) for $11.5 million. The land is now conserved and includes the 775 acres (3.1 km²) Laurels Preserve.
In 1971, a huge mill along the Brandywine went up for sale. Through a communication error during the auction Weymouth and the Conservancy acquired it as future museum space. Weymouth has been chairman of the Conservency’s Brandywine River Museum
Brandywine River Museum
The Brandywine River Museum is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine River. The museum showcases the art of Andrew Wyeth a major American realist painter, and his family: his father, N.C...
since it opened in 1971.
Whip or stager
"Whip" is a term used to describe the owner and driver of a coach and Frolic Weymouth is certainly a whip. Weymouth is internationally recognized for his impressive collection of antique coaches and carriages and he uses them regularly. He has deeded rights-of-way on neighboring properties to be able to drive his four-in-hand around northern Delaware.He initiated and always leads the coaching event at Winterthur Museum’s Point-to-Point in Delaware. He has permanently retired a trophy at the Devon Horse Show
Devon Horse Show
The Devon Horse Show, also known as The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair is an annual horse show which has been held late May through early June in Devon, Pennsylvania since 1896. ....
in Pennsylvania. In the summer of 1985, he spent three months in England and managed to drive a carriage 1000 miles (1,609.3 km). He whipped another 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) in France.
For one of his more spectacular drives, he drove from Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Upper East Side to Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
and then on to Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. Carriages are not uncommon around Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
but taking the carriage through Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
was a sensation.
Weymouth maintains “it’s no big deal” being a du Pont. In 2000, 3,700 members of the du Pont family
Du Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
attended a reunion at Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley...
. Several years later he wondered “How many there are now? Du Ponts have always been busy in bed.”
In a conversation about Andy Warhol, Jamie Wyeth expressed the opinion that Frolic Weymouth was the “real character.”
Weymoth has surrounded himself with art and gardens. A wonderful photograph of the back of Big Bend is available. A centerpiece in Weymouth’s Big Bend is “The Vidette,” an enormous painting of a horseman in the snow dating from 1912. This N.C. Wyeth masterpiece is occasionally on loan for exhibitions. Anna Hyatt Huntington
Anna Hyatt Huntington
Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor.-Life and career:Huntington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father, Alpheus Hyatt, was a professor of paleontology and zoology at Harvard University and MIT, and served as a contributing factor to her early interest in animals and...
’s “Greyhounds Playing” graces the garden. Elsewhere, a carved wooden Indonesian fertility bench features two interlocked monkeys, highlighting Weymouth’s admitted fascination with fornication.
Each evening, Weymouth names one beautiful thing he saw that day. “Then, the rest of the ugliness goes away.”
Awards and recognition
1971-77 Appointed by President Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
to the Commission of Fine Arts
1974 Serves on the Visual Arts Panel of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.Established in 1966, its mission is "to foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state." Each year...
1981 Receives the University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
merit award for community service
1989 Receives National Society of Fund Raising Executives’ Outstanding Fund Raising
Volunteer award
1990 Receives the National Arts Club
National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
annual award
1999 Receives Cliveden Heritage Preservation award
2000 Receives Garden Clubs of America special citation award for exemplary service in the field of conservation and environmental protection
Exhibitions
1991 George A. Weymouth: A Retrospective at the Brandywine River MuseumBrandywine River Museum
The Brandywine River Museum is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine River. The museum showcases the art of Andrew Wyeth a major American realist painter, and his family: his father, N.C...
1991 George A. Weymouth: A Retrospective at the Jacksonville Art Museum
2001 George A. Weymouth: Landscapes and Portraits of Brandywine at the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
Gallery
Frolic Weymouth's painting cannot be shown here for copyright reasons, but reference 1 links to a catalog containing a nice selection of his more important works.A wonderful photograph of the back of Big Bend is available at the link of reference 8.
A photograph of "The Vidette" is available at the link of reference 9.