Julian Alden Weir
Julian Alden Weir
American , 1852 – 1919
Into the Tile Club “ came a young enthusiast , fresh from the ateliers of Paris , a painter for whom all the others predicted a glorious future , one whose remarkable personal beauty was the envy of all — J . Alden Weir ” ( Millet , 87 ). This handsome artist was born in West Point , New York , the son of Robert Walter Weir , a drawing instructor at the Military Academy . After receiving some training from his father , Julian attended the National Academy of Design . Like many artists of the period , he also studied in France . In 1873 , with the financial support of his godmother , Weir enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and worked under Jean-Léon Gérôme . While in Europe , Weir also met the artists Jules Bastien-Lepage and James McNeill Whistler , both of whom had an impact on his style .
In 1877 , Weir returned to New York . Here , he became a founding member of the Society of American Artists and the Tile Club , and he worked as a buying agent for Erwin Davis and Henry Marquand , making frequent trips to Europe . He also was an instructor at the Cooper Union , the Art Students League , and taught private lessons . Anna Dwight Baker , one of his students , was smitten by Julian , and the two married in 1883 . After their honeymoon in Europe , they made a sizeble Connecticut farm their new home — fellow artists John Henry Twachtman , Theodore Robinson , and Childe Hassam were frequent visitors . The beauty of the property inspired Weir to paint a number of pleinair landscapes , and in the following decades he became known for his impressionist works , a style he shunned while at the academy . In 1892 , Anna passed away due to complications from childbirth ; Weir married her sister , Ella , a year later . During these years , Weir painted a mural for the World ’ s Columbian Exposition in Chicago . Weir also helped form the Ten American Painters , and in 1915 , he was elected president of the National Academy of Design .
J . Alden Weir , photograph , Weir Farm National Historic Site , National Park Service .
REFERENCES : Bolger , Doreen . J . Alden Weir : An American Impressionist .
Newark : University of Delaware Press , 1983 . Cummings , Hildegard , Helen K . Fusscas , and Susan G . Larkin . J . Alden Weir : A Place of His Own . Storrs : William Benton Museum of Art , University of Connecticut , 1991 .
Dearinger , David Bernard , ed . Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design . Volume 1 , 1826 – 1925 . New York : Hudson Hills Press , 2004 . Mather Jr ., Frank Jewett . Estimates in Art . Series II . Sixteen Essays on American Painters of the Nineteenth Century . Freeport , NY : Books for Libraries Press , 1970 .
Millet , J . B . “ The Tile Club .” In Julian Alden Weir : An Appreciation of His Life and Works , 75 – 87 . New York : E . P . Dutton & Company , 1922 .
Wardle , Marian , ed . The Weir Family , 1820-1920 : Expanding the Traditions of American Art . Provo , UT : Brigham Young University Museum of Art , 2012 .
122 THE TILE CLUB : Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting