Robert W. Weir  (1803-1889)

 

USMA had a "Teacher of Drawing" almost from its inception. Francis Desere Masson was the first, joining the faculty in 1803, but staying only until 1808; he simultaneously taught French. Christian Zoeller followed him, serving 1808-1810 and again 1812-1819; he was a great friend of Ferdinand Hassler. Thomas Grimbrede taught drawing from 1819 to 1834 and then Charles R. Leslie during part of the 1833-34 academic year. Then Robert W. Weir joined the faculty, serving from 1834 to 1876. In 1846 the "Department of Drawing" was created and it lasted until 1942. Following Weir, the department head was Charles William Larned (1876-1911), the first USMA graduate to serve in this position (USMA 1870, C#2339); unlike others who held this position he was not an artist, but an officer who had served cavalry duty on the frontier; he stressed mathematical drawing and topographical work [need to look into how he was chosen].  Larned was followed by Edwin Roy Stuart (1911-1920) and Roger Gordon Alexander (1920-1942; USMA 1907, C#2339. [Crackel, p. 285, 151]

Robert Walker Weir taught for several decades at West Point, from 1834 until 1876.  Before moving to the academy he had established a reputation for competence if not brilliance" [Morrison, p.55]. He arrived the year after Thayer left, during the Superintendancy of Major Rene E. DeRussy (USMA 1812). During the second month of his tenure, DeRussy sent a plan for a chapel to the War Department. This was finished in 1836, complete with a large mural over the alter which Weir painted entitled "Peace and War." The chapel remained essentially unchanged until 1910 when it was moved to the West Point Cemetery. Today it survives as the oldest public building on post [Crackel, p. 108].

Weir lived in the Northernmost of the quarters on Professor's Row (now quarters 107B).

"Water had been piped to the quarters [i.e., the row of new duplex quarters, known as Professor's Row] and barracks from a reservoir dammed at the present Delafield Pond under the direction of Lieutenant Church shortly after his graduation in 1828. There were no indoor bathrooms with running water. Water was carried from the taps near the quarters or barracks. There were outhouses behind each set of quarters and larger "sinks" near the barracks and summer camp areas." [Pappus, p. 211].

Weir was a landscape painter of the Hudson River school. James McNeil Whistler (x1855), Robert E. Lee (USMA 1829), Seth Eastman (1808-1875; he married Mary Henderson, daughter of the Assistant Surgeon at USMA), George Derby and Ulysses S. Grant were among his students [Pappus, p. 250].

Paintings by Robert W. Weir:

The Weir's had sixteen children.

Two of Professor Robert W. Weir's sons, Gulian Verplanck Weir and William Bayard Weir (USMA 1870, #2318), were in the regular army and served through the civil war, while Henry C. Weir served in the volunteer army and attained the brevet rank of colonel. Another son, Robert Weir, was in the navy.

One daughter, Emma Weir, married Thomas Lincoln Casey (first in the class of 1852, #1536), the son of Silas Casey (USMA 1826, #467).

Walter Weir.

Two sons became artists:

John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926) was born at West Point and became an artist. He became a member of the National Academy of Design in 1866 and director of the Yale University Art School in 1868.

The youngest child, J. Alden Weir [Julian Aldenwēr Weir] (1852-1919), was born at West Point. He studied with his father at the National Academy,  and with Gérôme in Paris. He was one of the earliest American impressionist painters. He was one of the founders of the Society of American Artists in 1877, and became a member of the National Academy of Design in 1886. His paintings include

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES:

Betsy Fahlman, John Ferguson Weir: The Labor of Art. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997. Pp. 210; illustrations, appendixes, notes, bibliography, index. $75. Reviewed by John F. Kasson.

See J. A. Weir's letters with a biography by his daughter, Dorothy Weir Young (ed. by L. Chisolm, 1960).

 

Revised 10/10/10.