Lot 39: John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926) Chicken Yard at Branchville (Farm at Branchville) 20 x 24in

John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926)
Chicken Yard at Branchville (Farm at Branchville) signed 'John F. Weir' (lower right)oil on canvas20 x 24inPainted in 1900-01.
Provenance: Goldfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California, by 2000. ExhibitedSouthampton, New York, The Parrish Art Museum, and elsewhere, A Connecticut Place: Weir Farm, An American Painter's Rural Retreat, April 15–September 17, 2000, p. 111, illustrated.John Ferguson Weir hailed from the prominent Weir family of artists, most notably among them his half-brother, John Alden Weir (1852-1919). Early in his career the young artist resided in the Tenth Street Studio Building, alongside his close friends, Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880) and Jervis McEntee (1828-1891), and was soon elected as an Associate of the National Academy of Design, New York. Weir became a noted teacher at the Yale University School of Fine Arts, in New Haven, Connecticut, where he remained in his position for forty-four years. The present work depicts his half-brother's farm property in Branchville, Connecticut, today referred to as the Weir Farm, a registered historic site with the National Parks Service. Coops are scattered through the foreground with a cluster of chickens pecking at lower right. Weir's stylistic handling and palette are reminiscent of the American Impressionist tradition with broken brushwork and coloristic definition. Lisa N. Peters describes the artist's technique, "With drybrush, he applied dabs of overlaid closely toned pastel colors of green, yellow and light orange, with accents of red, white and blue. The result is an allover luminous effect, suggesting the warmth and peaceful mood of the summer day." (Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., unpublished letter, n.d.)