John Ferguson Weir

John Ferguson Weir (August 28, 1841 – April 26, 1926) was an American painter, sculptor, writer, and educator. He was a son of painter Robert Walter Weir, long-time 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. His niece was artist and educator Irene Weir.

Biography He was born August 28, 1841, at West Point, New York, and studied with his father Robert Walter Weir and at the National Academy, New York. As a young man, he worked on still life paintings and became proficient at landscapes. In 1862, around the time of his 21st birthday, he was commissioned by the art patron Robert Leighton Stuart to paint a landscape scene of West Point which he named Hudson Highlands, West Point, Summer Afternoon. It is also known as View of the Hudson Highlands, West Point. This commission introduced him to the art world of New York City, and led to his renting a small room in the Tenth Street Studio, where he became acquainted with many of the rising young artists of the day.

In 1866 John married Mary Hannah French, daughter of West Point professor The Rev. John W. French. Their daughter, Edith Dean Weir, (wife of James De Wolf Perry) was a noted painter of miniatures, studying under Lucia Fairchild Fuller.

Weir also served in the Union Army briefly at the beginning of the Civil War. 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 Hudson Highlands, West Point, Summer Afternoon (1862) An Artist's Studio (1864) The Gun Foundry (1866) 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

Gallery