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Weir FarmOct 10, 2007
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Oct 10 50216 8:00
We have drizzle again today, #8 and it is supposed to continue through the end of the week. We can't really complain, this area has had no rain for months and everything is so dry when they get rain it won't soak in it just runs off. A few days of drizzle will help.
There are not many RV parks in the New York City area so we are trying to decide if we will stop early, drive a long way to the Weir Farm or drive to another park and then come back to the Weir Farm.
Will as it turns out we find a Wal-Mart just 10 miles from the Weir Farm and unhook the car. We find the Weir Farm, get the stamp and walk around in the drizzle.
Julian Alden Weir, an American Impressionist painter was born in 1852 at West Point, NY. His father was a drawing professor at the U.S. Military Academy. At the age of 12 he spent time with his brother, a painter, in New York City.
At 17 he went to Paris to study. While in Parish he saw the work of the French Impressionists but was not impressed by their work. In 1882 Weir acquired a 153-acre farm in Branchville, Conn. Living here his work begins to show a new focus; still lives and portraits are smaller and less formal. He often used his wife Anna and their daughters for models.
The farm became a place for social gatherings for artists of all kinds as they come to work, study and receive inspiration from the beautiful landscape. Over the years the house is enlarged and several studios are built. Weir died in 1919 and had been honored as a gifted painter, teacher, and leader and cherished friend.
His daughter Dorothy lived in the home after Julian's death and in 1931 she married Mahonri Young, a sculptor and a grandson of Brigham Young. The next tenets were Sperry and Doris Andrews who had stopped by one day to meet Mahonri. They became friends and when Young died in 1957 they bought the property.
The Andrews recognized the arm as a place of significance to American art and helped preserve its landscape and artistic legacy for future visitors and artists.
The farm is peaceful, serene and evokes beauty if all forms of art. Hopefully some of my photos will reflect some of this.
When we get to our campground, the Black Bear Campground in Florida, NY the sun is shining and it has warmed up. We have a day to kill and may just kill it here. West Point is close and might be worth a visit tomorrow.
