Robert Walter Weir
Encyclopedia
Robert Walter Weir was an American
artist
, best known as an educator, and as an historical painter. He was considered an artist of the Hudson River school
, was elected to the National Academy of Design
in 1829, and an instructor
at the United States Military Academy
. Among his better-known works are: The Embarkation of the Pilgrims (in the rotunda of the United States Capitol at Washington, D.C.); Landing of Hendrik Hudson; Evening of the Crucifixion; Columbus before the Council of Salamanca; Our Lord on the Mount of Olives; Virgil and Dante crossing the Styx.
Robert Weir was born on June 18, 1803, in New Rochelle, New York
to Robert and Mary Katherine (Brinkley) Weir. Weir never graduated from college and at age 18, in 1821, left a job as a mercantile clerk to pursue painting. He studied art in New York City from 1822–24, teaching himself drawing
and painting
, before departing in 1824 to study in Italy
. He remained in Florence from 1824–25, and in Rome from 1825–27, during which time he studied the works of Michelangelo
, Raphael
, and other Italian masters of the Renaissance
. Weir returned to New York in 1827 to accompany a sick friend. He remained in New York unti1 1834 and became an integral part of its artist. He was then appointed as Teacher
of Drawing, later Professor of Drawing, at the United States Military Academy
at West Point, New York
.
Replacing the late Thomas Grimbrede, Weir was the fifth artist to hold the position of art instructor at the academy. In this post for forty-two years (1834–1876), he instructed many of the future commanders of the American Civil War
. Notably, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Seth Eastman were among his students. He died in New York City on the first of May 1889.
(born 1841) was a painter and sculptor, and became a Member of the National Academy of Design in 1866, and was made director of the Yale University
Art School in 1868. Another son, Julian Alden Weir
(born 1852), studied under his father, and under J.-L. Gérôme
, and became a distinguished portrait, figure and landscape painter. He was one of the founders of the Society of American Artists
in 1877, and became a member of the National Academy of Design (1886) and of the Ten American Painters
, New York.
Weir was considered part of the Hudson River school
of American art. One of his best known artworks is the The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, which hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda
. He was commissioned by the United States Congress
in 1837 and the painting was placed in the rotunda
in 1844. His canvases, dealing principally with historical subjects, also include: The Bourbons Last March; Landing of Hendrie Hudson (1842); A Compositor Setting Type (ca. 1844); Indian Captive; Taking the Veil; The Evening of the Crucifixion (1867); Virgil and Dante Crossing the Styx (1869); Christ in the Garden (1873); The Portico of the Palace of Octavia, Rome (1870); Our Lord on the Mount of Olives (1877); Indian Falls (1878); Titian in his Studio; Columbus before the Council of Salamanca (1884) and St. Nicholas (1837), which currently is part of the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
. He also painted a water-color entitled: Last Communion of Henry Clay, and several portraits. He died in New York city, May 1, 1889.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, best known as an educator, and as an historical painter. He was considered an artist of the Hudson River school
Hudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
, was elected to the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in 1829, and an instructor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
. Among his better-known works are: The Embarkation of the Pilgrims (in the rotunda of the United States Capitol at Washington, D.C.); Landing of Hendrik Hudson; Evening of the Crucifixion; Columbus before the Council of Salamanca; Our Lord on the Mount of Olives; Virgil and Dante crossing the Styx.
Life and career
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
to Robert and Mary Katherine (Brinkley) Weir. Weir never graduated from college and at age 18, in 1821, left a job as a mercantile clerk to pursue painting. He studied art in New York City from 1822–24, teaching himself drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
and painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, before departing in 1824 to study in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He remained in Florence from 1824–25, and in Rome from 1825–27, during which time he studied the works of Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, and other Italian masters of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
. Weir returned to New York in 1827 to accompany a sick friend. He remained in New York unti1 1834 and became an integral part of its artist. He was then appointed as Teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
of Drawing, later Professor of Drawing, at the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point, New York
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
.
Replacing the late Thomas Grimbrede, Weir was the fifth artist to hold the position of art instructor at the academy. In this post for forty-two years (1834–1876), he instructed many of the future commanders of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Notably, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Seth Eastman were among his students. He died in New York City on the first of May 1889.
Children
His son, John Ferguson WeirJohn Ferguson Weir
John F. Weir was an American painter and sculptor. He was the son of painter Robert Walter Weir, a professor of drawing at the Military Academy at West Point. His younger brother, J...
(born 1841) was a painter and sculptor, and became a Member of the National Academy of Design in 1866, and was made director of the Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Art School in 1868. Another son, Julian Alden Weir
J. Alden Weir
Julian Alden Weir was an American impressionist painter and member of the Cos Cob Art Colony near Greenwich, Connecticut...
(born 1852), studied under his father, and under J.-L. Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.-Life:Jean-Léon Gérôme was born...
, and became a distinguished portrait, figure and landscape painter. He was one of the founders of the Society of American Artists
Society of American Artists
The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
in 1877, and became a member of the National Academy of Design (1886) and of the Ten American Painters
Ten American Painters
The Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
, New York.
Artwork
Hudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
of American art. One of his best known artworks is the The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, which hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda
United States Capitol Rotunda
The United States Capitol rotunda is the central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Located below the Capitol dome, it is the tallest part of the Capitol and has been described as its "symbolic and physical heart."...
. He was commissioned by the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 1837 and the painting was placed in the rotunda
United States Capitol Rotunda
The United States Capitol rotunda is the central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Located below the Capitol dome, it is the tallest part of the Capitol and has been described as its "symbolic and physical heart."...
in 1844. His canvases, dealing principally with historical subjects, also include: The Bourbons Last March; Landing of Hendrie Hudson (1842); A Compositor Setting Type (ca. 1844); Indian Captive; Taking the Veil; The Evening of the Crucifixion (1867); Virgil and Dante Crossing the Styx (1869); Christ in the Garden (1873); The Portico of the Palace of Octavia, Rome (1870); Our Lord on the Mount of Olives (1877); Indian Falls (1878); Titian in his Studio; Columbus before the Council of Salamanca (1884) and St. Nicholas (1837), which currently is part of the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
. He also painted a water-color entitled: Last Communion of Henry Clay, and several portraits. He died in New York city, May 1, 1889.
List of Weir's works
- Paul Preaching at Athens
- Two portraits of Sylvanus Thayer [Pappus, p. 210].
- Embarkation of the Pilgrims at Delft Haven, Holland, July 22, 1620.
- Picnic Along the Hudson, http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=21327, retrieved December 14, 2007
- Christ in the Garden.
- Indian Falls.
- Landing of Hendrik Hudson.
- Evening of the Crucifixion.
- Titan in his Studio.
- Columbus before the Council of Salamanca.
- Our Lord in the Mount of Olives.
- Virgil and Dante crossing the Styx
- The Bourbons Last March.
- Saint Nicholas.
- Landing of Hendrie Hudson.
- "A Compositor Setting Type."
- Indian Captive.
- Taking the Veil.
- The Evening of the Crucifixion.
- Portrait of Jared Mansfield.
- Portrait of General Winfield Scott.
- Portrait of Dennis Hart Mahan.
- Portrait of Robert E. Lee. One of only two portraits painted before the Civil War.
- Seascape with Lighthouse, 1869. Exhibited at Whitney Museum, New York, 1975, in exhibition entitled "Seascape and the American Imagination"
External links
- NY Times article:http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C01EEDE1F31EE3ABC4051DFB566838B699FDE retrieved December 14, 2007
- Askart Bio information:http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?artist=21327, retrieved December 14, 2007