Robert Walter Weir
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Robert Walter Weir (June 18, 1803 - May 1, 1889) was an American artist, best known as an educator, and as an historical painter. He was considered an artist of the Hudson River school,[1] 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.
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[edit] Life and Career
Robert Weir was born on June 18, 1803, in New Rochelle, New York. Weir never graduated college and left a job as a mercantile clerk to pursue painting at age eighteen in 1821. For three years, the young artist taught himself the arts, until in 1824 he departed for study in Italy.[2] In that time period, Weir studied the works of Michaelangelo, Raphael, and other Italian masters of the Renaissance. It ended in 1827, when Weir returned to New York accompanying a sick friend. He remained in the city of New York, as part of an artist community in the city until 1834, when he was appointed as Teacher of Drawing, later Professor of Drawing, at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.[3]
Weir was the fifth artist to receive the position at the academy, replacing Thomas Grimbrede.[4] In this position, he instructed many of the future commanders of the American Civil War over a career that spanned forty-two years to 1876.[5] He died on the first of May, 1889, in New York city.[6]
[edit] Children
His son, John Ferguson Weir (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. Gerôme, 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.[7]
[edit] Artwork
Weir was considered part of the Hudson River school of American art. His most well known artwork 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.[8] Other major artworks include Peace and War, a scene painted over the chapel at the United States Military Academy and St. Nicholas, which currently is part of the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In addition, Weir painted a number of portraits.
[edit] 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 22nd, 1620.
- Picnic Along the Hudson, [1], retrieved December 14, 2007
- Landing of Hendrik Hudson.
- Evening of the Crucifixion.
- Columbus before the Council of Salamanca.
- Our Lord in the Mount of Olives.
- Virgil and Dante crossing the Styx
- 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.
[edit] Gallery
 Portrait of John Canfield Spencer |
 Portrait of James Monroe |
 Portrait of William Wilkins |
 Portrait of John Eaton |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Robert W
- ^ Kent Ahrens,"The Portraits of Robert Weir," American Art Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 4
- ^ Ahrens, p. 4.
- ^ USMA site on Weir
- ^ Ahrens, p. 4.
- ^ USMA site on Weir
- ^ This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- ^ Architect of the Capitol page on Embarkation of the Pilgrims
