2-991-626 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Portrait of Robert Walter Weir, c1885. Born in New York, New York, in 1803. He studied for three years in Florence and Rome, returning to New York in 1827. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Design two years later. He was instructor in drawing at the United States Military Academy from 1834 to 1876 and is best known for his paintings of historical subjects. He died in New York in 1889. Robert W. Weir was J. Alden Weir’s first teacher and continued to give his son advice and encouragement later in life. The son retained a deep admiration for his father and freely acknowledged his debt to him.