Irene Weir (January 15, 1862March 22, 1944) was an American artist and art educator.

Biography

Irene Weir was born to Walter and Annie Field Weir (née Andrews) in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri on January 15, 1862. Weir came from a long line of artists and educators. Her grandfather

Robert Walter Weir Robert Walter Weir (June 18, 1803 – May 1, 1889) was an American artist and educator and is considered a painter of the Hudson River School. Weir was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1829 and was an instructor at the United States ...

was an artist and an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. Her uncles

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 ...

was an artist and director of the School of Fine Arts at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

and

Julian Alden Weir Julian Alden Weir (August 30, 1852 – December 8, 1919) was an American impressionist painter and member of the Cos Cob Art Colony near Greenwich, Connecticut. Weir was also one of the founding members of "The Ten", a loosely allied group of ...

, a leading figure in New York's art world. Opera stories - 10871658855

Weir attended Yale from 1881 to 1882 and was awarded a degree in fine arts in 1906 for cumulative artistic achievement rather than coursework. She also studied in France, Spain, Holland, United Kingdom and Italy on two separate trips. On returning to the US Weir went on to teach art in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

before moving to teach in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, public school system. There she went on to become the director of art instruction. Weir also served as director of the Slater Museum School of Art in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

. In 1911, Weir became the director at the Ethical Teaching School and taught pottery, bookbinding, illustration, etching, illustration, sculpture, and painting. In 1917, she founded the School of Design and Liberal Arts and served as director until 1929. As an educator, she championed the idea that art should be for everyone and not just the elite and was enmeshed in everyday life. In 1923, she attended the École des Beaux Arts Américaine in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, France, and graduated in 1927. Weir's own works hang at

Washington Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Was ...

, a prison in New York City, and Memorial hospital in New York as well as having been held in exhibitions from New York to London and Washington D.C. Weir was both an educator and active participant of the art organizations such as the National Society of Etchers, Independent Artists of America, the London Lyceum Club, and the Founders Group of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

, Texas. She was also director of the Art Alliance of America. She died from cardiovascular disease in 1944 in

Yorktown Heights, New York Yorktown Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census. History Yorktown Heights is in the town of Yorktown, New York, in northe ...

Bibliography

*''The Greek Painters' Art'' (1905) *''Outlines of Courses in Design, Representation and Color for High School Classes'' (1910), with Elizabeth Stone *''Robert W. Weir, Artist (1947)''

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Irene 1862 births 1944 deaths 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists Yale School of Art alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Founders of American schools and colleges American art educators Artists from St. Louis Artists from New York City Weir family