Max Weyl (December 1, 1837 – 1914) was a prominent Washington, D.C. artist of the late 19th century known especially for his landscapes of Rock Creek Park and the Potomac River.

Biography

He was born on December 1, 1837, in Muhlen-am-Neckar, a small town in the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. His parents' names were Veit Hirsch Weyl and Emma Miriam Goetz. In 1853 his family emigrated to

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 27,754. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populati ...

, where Weyl worked in watch and clock repair, a trade he had learned through an early apprenticeship. In 1857, he moved to Washington, D.C. and became a jeweler with a retail store on 7th Street NW in a building that still stands and currently is used as a Ruby Tuesday restaurant across from the Verizon Center. Weyl married Miriam Raff and had several children including Mathilda, Henry and Adolph. Weyl began to paint as a hobby and displayed some of his works in his shop window. Weyl also was active in the then-small Washington Jewish community. In the 1870s, local businessman, Samuel H. Kauffman, publisher of the ''Evening Star'' newspaper, took noontime walks on 7th Street and observed Weyl's paintings on display in the shop window. Kauffman purchased some of Weyl's works and became his patron, financing a trip for Weyl to study art professionally in Europe. In 1878, under Kauffman's patronage, Weyl undertook a year of study abroad, visiting studios and galleries in Munich, Paris, Vienna and Venice. After his return to Washington, he and a group of fellow artists formed the "Washington Landscape School", resulting in paintings "plein air" paintings of Washington pastoral scene. Weyl came to be called the "American Daubigny" and his works became very popular among Washington art collectors. His work became part of collections including the White House where purchases were made by Mrs. Grover Cleveland and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson,

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, the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

, Kiplinger Washington Editors, the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

and many others. On Weyl's 70th birthday in 1907, the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

held a retrospective exhibit of his work. A group of local citizens purchased and donated a work by him to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

. In recognition and praise they stated: "From the standpoint of art you have contributed works of genius that will stand for all time: while your bearing as a man, citizen and friend has been of that modest and yet far-reaching character that wins the love and retains the esteem of those with whom you have come in contact." Weyl died in 1914. His great-grandson, Christopher Wolf, has a large collection of Weyl's works and continues to live in Washington, DC as a fourth-generation Washingtonian. His grandson, the late Max Weyl II, was also a collector as well as his great-granddaughter, the late Nancy Weyl Seamon, great-grandson, Kevin Weyl and great-great-granddaughter Maraina Leigh Weyl. Among Weyl's pupils was the painter Florence Wolf Gotthold.

References

External links

WEYL, MAX
at www.fineartstrader.com

at www.piercegalleries.com
JewishEncyclopedia.com - WEYL, MAX:
at www.jewishencyclopedia.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weyl, Max 1837 births 1914 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Immigrants to the United States Emigrants from the Grand Duchy of Baden 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists Painters from Washington, D.C.