John Ferguson Weir

John F. Weir (1841–1926) 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. Alden Weir, also became a well-known artist who painted in the style of American Impressionism.

Biography

He was born August 28, 1841, at West Point, New York, and studied with his father and at the National Academy, New York. In 1861 he opened a studio in New York City and he became a member of the National Academy in 1866. John married Mary French, daughter of Rev. John W. French. Their daughter, Edith Dean Weir was also a well known miniatures painter, studying under Lucia Fairchild Fuller.

In 1868 he studied abroad. After his return he served as the first director of the School of Fine Arts at Yale University (1869–1913). He died in Providence, Rhode Island on April 8, 1926.

Works

He designed the public fountain on New Haven Green. Among his writings are:

• John Trumbull and his Works (1902)
• Human Destiny in the Light of Revelation (1903)

Paintings

• "The Gun Foundry" (1867)
• "Forging the Shaft" (1868, Metropolitan Museum, New York)
• "Tapping the Furnace"

Portraits

• Admiral Farragut
• President Dwight of Yale University
• Wells Williams

Statues

• President Theodore Dwight Woolsey of Yale University
• Professor Benjamin Silliman (elder) of Yale
• Lafayette, Milford, Pennsylvania

Further reading

• Fahlman, Betsy (1997). John Ferguson Weir: The Labor of Art. Newark DE: University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-602-4. 
• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.