Detail of Julian Alden Weir from a portrait of Weir in his studio, ca. 1910

Detail of Julian Alden Weir from a portrait of Weir in his studio, ca. 1910 – Smithsonian Institution

Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919)

Julian Alden Weir, a leading figure in American Impressionism, was a member of the Cos Cob Art Colony and a founder of the Ten American Painters, or “The Ten.” Born in West Point, New York, in 1852, Weir followed in family footsteps by pursuing an art career. He studied in the US and Europe but, like his friends Childe Hassam and John Henry Twachtman, Weir abandoned the academic style in favor of impressionism. In 1883, he acquired a Connecticut farm, which served as his primary home and studio until his death in 1919. Today, his paintings are held by top museums around the world, and Weir Farm, which sits on land in Ridgefield and Wilton, is the only National Park Service historic site dedicated to American painting.

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Julian Alden Weir, The Farm, etching

Weir Farm the Result of a Trade – Who Knew?

Weir Farm, located in Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut, resulted from the trade of a painting and ten dollars. …[more]

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“Julian Alden Weir - Digital Collection.” 2013. Yale University. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/5/archival_objects/2503306.
“The Wadsworth Atheneum.” 2017. https://www.thewadsworth.org/.
“New Britain Museum of American Art.” 2017. http://nbmaa.org/.
“Weir Farm National Historic Site.” 2016. U.S. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/wefa/index.htm.
“Lyman Allyn Art Museum.” 2016. http://www.lymanallyn.org/ (November 2, 2011).
Dawson, Anne E., ed. 2016. Rare Light: J. Alden Weir in Windham, Connecticut, 1882-1919. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
“Julian Alden Weir - Weir Farm National Historic Site.” 2013. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/wefa/historyculture/jaldenweir.htm.
Cummings, Hildegard, Helen K. Fusscas, Susan G. Larkin, William Benton Museum of Art, and Bruce Museum. 1991. J. Alden Weir: A Place of His Own. Storrs, CT: William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut.
Young, Dorothy Weir. 1960. The Life and Letters of J. Alden Weir: Edited with an Introduction by Lawrence W. Chisolm. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Bolger, Doreen, and Julian Alden Weir. 1983. J. Alden Weir: An American Impressionist. Newark; London: University of Delaware Press.