$5,875
J. Alden Weir (American, 1852-1919) Portrait of a Woman Dedicated and signed "TO MY FRIEND R.C. HAYENMEYER J Alden Weir" u.r., initialed on the reverse. Oil on canvas, 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm), framed. Condition: Retouch, light abrasions, surface grime. Provenance: Sold to benefit the Brooklyn Museum. N.B. A member of the Ten American Painters, along with Frank Benson, Childe Hassam, Edmund Tarbell, and others, J. Alden Weir was considered one of the leading American Impressionist painters. He studied with Jean Leon Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1873 to 1877, where he learned to paint in a more traditional style that emphasized detail and precision, and was at first put off by the Impressionist works that he saw at the Parisian Salon. By 1880, however, Weir became friends with plein air painter Jules Bastien-Lepage, who encouraged him to begin painting outdoors. Weir returned to the United States, where he continued to develop his Impressionist style. He exhibited widely and was inducted into the National Academy and the Society of American Artists. Pierce writes of Weir, 'his brush created a personal powerful sensitivity that most painters never achieve. Weir's response to life was spontaneous and optimistic, and his work was fresh with a complexity of purpose.'1 (1) Pierce, Patricia Jobe The Ten (Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press, 1976). p. 151.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-05-18
