"Weir Was Here" is the first artistic collection of photographs documenting the beauty and textures of the
interiors
of the
Julian Alden Weir House and Studio and the Mahonri Young Studio, which have never been seen by
the general public. This
unique photographic record was commissioned by the National Park Service as part of a major
rehabilitation and restoration
of these key historic buildings – the first such project in the history of the park.
These structures are empty for the first time in at least 140 years and are highly unlikely to be empty again. Moreover, by
2013, the interiors will be significantly changed from how they appear now. So the photographs offer a rare peek of what lies within.
The images feature the rooms, doors, windows and other distinguishing characteristics of the
interiors – unadorned
but,
at once, stark, rustic and ethereal. The exhibit presents 17 photographs from close to 150 in the collection.
Julian Alden Weir, a leading figure in American art and the development of American Impressionism, acquired the farm in 1882.
Weir's daughter, painter Dorothy Weir Young, and her husband, sculptor Mahonri Young, lived on the homestead after Weir's death.
Young was associated with the Ashcan School, an art movement that, ironically, rebelled against American Impressionism.
Today, the 60-acre farm is the only National Park Service historic site in the country dedicated to an American painter.
"Weir Was Here" is available as a traveling exhibit to your institution, gallery or public space. Send an e-mail for more information.
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