Boscobel House and Gardens is honored to announce its 2013 art exhibition, Robert W. Weir and the Poetry of Art. On display in the Exhibition Gallery at Boscobel beginning Sunday, Aug. 11, this unprecedented showcase will include paintings, drawings and prints, many of which have never before been displayed in public, on loan from the West Point Museum.
Robert W. Weir (1803-1889) served as the drawing professor at the United States Military Academy for 42 years, 1834-1876, beginning at age 31 and retiring at age 73. Over that time, he taught 1,855 graduates including James McNeill Whistler and Seth Eastman. Art was an important subject for military training as it strengthened observational powers and provided important ways of recording visual information.
A long look at the work of Weir reveals him as a lifelong student of art history who believed that art, poetry and science are interrelated. He spoke of “the poetry of art,” and he taught art as a form of poetry, an evocation of thought and as a science, a paradigm consisting of elements and methodologies commonly used by every artist. From the early Renaissance to the Industrial Age in which he lived, these were European concepts without which a work of art could not be made. Weir applied these paradigms in his own art and taught them, as well.
Robert W. Weir and the Poetry of Art, containing 37 pieces of art, will be open during regular business hours (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday) and is free with a paid house or grounds admission. For more information, visit Boscobel.org or call 845-265-3638.
