Dorothy Weir Young (June 18, 1890 – May 28, 1947) was an American artist. She was the daughter of the American

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

artist

J. Alden Weir Julian Alden Weir (August 30, 1852 – December 8, 1919) was an American impressionist painter and member of the Cos Cob Art Colony near Greenwich, Connecticut. Weir was also one of the founding members of "The Ten", a loosely allied group of ...

, and later married sculptor

Mahonri Young Mahonri Mackintosh Young (August 9, 1877 – November 2, 1957) was an American social-realist sculptor and artist. During his lengthy career, he created more than 320 sculptures, 590 oil paintings, 5,500 watercolors, 2,600 prints, and thousand ...

. Dorothy Young was the primary author of ''The Life and Letters of J. Alden Weir'', which was published posthumously.

Early life

Dorothy Weir Young was born on June 18, 1890, to

and Anna Baker Weir in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She was the couple's second daughter. Her father was a well-known American impressionist painter. Young recalled visiting the studio of

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

as a young girl with her family. Young trained under him and later became a professional artist herself. She studied art at the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

at the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. Weir often participated in the puzzles in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper and was featured as one of their lucky puzzle winners multiple times. In 1911, she began studying at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

. She studied many fields including oils, watercolors, and woodblock prints. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Young gave financial support to children from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. She also became first aid and surgical certification from the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

Career

Young's father greatly influenced her decision to become an artist. Although he died in 1919, she continued to study and practice art. During her lifetime she made more than 400 pieces of artwork in various media. In 1922, she was on the committee for the opening of the Duncan Phillips Memorial Art Gallery. Some of her work was displayed in 1935 as part of a flower painting exhibit by the American Woman's Association. Her work was also shown at the

, the National Academy of Design, the

Pennsylvania Academy The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Much of her work depicts nature and the outdoors. Much of her artwork is displayed at the Museum of Art at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Awards

Young's artwork in woodblocks and oil paintings won prizes during her lifetime. Young received the Joan of Arc bronze medal from the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in 1928. The following hear she was the recipient of the Crowinshield prize from the Annual Exhibit of Paintings and Sculpture of the Stockinbridge Art Association. In 1940, she was indicted into the

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

. That same year she was also inducted into the Who's Who in American Art.

Gallery

Still Life of Peonies by Dorothy Weir Young.jpg, ''Still Life of Peonies''
Oil on canvas Interior of the Living Room at Weirs Farm by Dorothy Weirs Young.jpg, ''Interior of the Living Room at Weirs Farm''
Watercolor on paper
Seated Portrait of a Woman in a Black Dress and Hat by Dorothy Weir Young.jpg, ''Seated Portrait of a Woman in a Black Dress and Hat''
Oil on canvas Seated Portrait by Dorothy Weir Young.jpg, ''Seated Portrait by Dorothy Weir Young''
Oil on canvas Portrait of Theresa Knoche by Dorothy Weir Young.jpg, ''Portrait of Theresa Knoche''
Oil on canvas

Later life

She married

, a sculptor, in February 1931. They spent a lot of their time together in

Branchville, Connecticut Branchville is a neighborhood of the town of Ridgefield in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is also the name of a Metro North railroad station (Branchville station). Branchville was listed as a census-designated place (CDP) prio ...

, where they built a studio in 1932. The couple traveled to Utah on various occasions because her husband was the sculptor of the

This is the Place Monument The This is the Place Monument is a historical monument at the This is the Place Heritage Park, located on the east side of Salt Lake City, Utah, at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. It is named in honor of Brigham Young's famous statement in 18 ...

. As she got older, her health declined. She died on May 28, 1947, in New York from cancer. Throughout her life, Young had been working on a biography for her father called ''The Life and Letters of J. Alden Weir''. The book was published posthumously in 1960. During her lifetime she also worked hard to preserve her father's farm; the

Weir Farm National Historic Site Weir Farm National Historical Park is located in Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut. It commemorates the life and work of American impressionist painter J. Alden Weir and other artists who stayed at the site or lived there, to include Childe Ha ...

was established in 1990. It is the only National Park in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that is dedicated to painting. The park is over 60 acres and includes the Weir House, the Weir Pond, and the Weir and Young Studio.

References

External links

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Dorothy Weir Paintings (1890–1919)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Dorothy Weir 1890 births 1947 deaths Painters from New York City National Academy of Design alumni American women painters 20th-century American biographers American women biographers Richards–Young family 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women artists Harold B. Lee Library-related film articles Weir family