Robert Edward Weaver (November 15, 1913 – July 18, 1991) was an American regionalist artist, and illustrator. He was professor emeritus of art at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, Indiana. Weaver earned a BFA from the Herron School in 1938. Weaver grew up in Peru, Indiana, winter home of the American Circus Corporation, a conglomerate of circuses that traveled the country at the later part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The circus performers that frequented his father's general store influenced his creative senses.
Early career and recognition Weaver won the John Armstrong Chaloner Paris Prize in 1937. This was the largest single art prize at that time for painters in the United States, consisting of a $6,000 stipend for study overseas for 3 years, and a New York studio space. Among the jury members who awarded Weaver the first prize were sculptor Mahonri Young and the painter Gifford Beal. After a screening by the Chaloner committee, Weaver along with 15 other artists were invited to submit fully realized works. For Weaver, that work was Back Doorhttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/2015/4/21/next-up-back-door (aka Next Up). The initial rounds of the competition ended in a tie between Weaver and another artist name Bernie Quick for the first prize. The two finalists were challenged by the committee to a paint-off over an allotted amount of time. Weaver presented two paintings to the final committee. The Repensky Riders and A Night at the Circushttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/2015/4/21/riding-clowns (aka Riding Clowns) see below. His painting The Repensky Riders (aka Manhattan Matinee) won the competition for Weaver who was only 24 years of age at the time. Weaver studied painting with Henrik M. Mayer, and sculpture with David K. Rubins at Herron.
Weaver's victory in the Chaloner competition in Time Magazine opening many doors for the artist in the New York art world of the time. Just prior to entering the Chaloner competition, Weaver had received two medals for Mural Design from the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design from 1935 to 1936. His entry was entitled, A Mural for a Dining Room in a Country House. Weaver went on to win the Third Hallgarten Prize at the National Academy of Design in 1938.American Art Annual, Volume 34 (1938), p. 350. The Hallgarten prize was, “for a picture in oil colors painted in the United States by an American citizen under thirty-five years of age.” The third prize winning entry was entitled Wagon 97. The painting went on to many exhibitions across the nation through the auspices of the American Federation of Arts. On April 21, 1938 Weaver received a letter from the Grand Central Art Galleries of New York informing him that their jury had approved his work, and that he was elected a life member of the Galleries. He was one of 3 out of over 400 applicants to be accepted that year.
Subsequent works went on to be exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, New York State Museum, Albany, NY, and The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio. On January 12, 1939 the Grand Central Galleries informed Weaver that his work Rehearsal had been sent to the Pennsylvania Academy Jury. In the meantime, Rehearsal was included in the Academy's Founder's Show and then it was slated to go to The 16th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from March 26 to May 7, 1939. Another important work, Circus Girl In Her Dressing Tenthttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/wxq9rd8856hc8ot19ydqr2q4salr4r was shipped to the Pennsylvania Academy for inclusion in their exhibition beginning on January 29, 1939.
Weaver returned home to Indiana in April 1938 to attend his graduation ceremonies at the Herron Art Institute. Weaver did not return to New York until he sailed for England in the late spring of 1939 following the death of his father. During his time back in Peru, he painted his large work Those Riding Hannefordshttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/2016/5/25/2016/5/25/the-riding-hannefords-c-1939 which was invited to be exhibited at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. Weaver embarked aboard the from New York to England on May 25, 1939 to fulfil his Chaloner overseas obligations. Weaver travelled and studied in some of the major centers of Europe, including London, Amsterdam, and Paris. He met up with 2 artist friends Harry Davis, and George Prout from the Herron school who were also studying in Europe at the time. The three friends road bicycles to Le Havre, France to exit the country before the German occupation began. Upon his return to the United States, Weaver contacted the Chaloner Foundation to obtain permission to finish his overseas study in Mexico. Weaver and members of his family, including his mother, departed for Mexico on March 18, 1940. There, Weaver visited many historic sites where he was exposed to the work of muralists such as Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco whose style of work would later inform his mural compositions. Weaver would not return to New York to do more studio work until September 1941.
War years 1943–1946 Weaver entered the Naval Training School at Ohio State University on April 1, 1943, and upon successful completion was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. Ensign Weaver was first assigned duty at NOB Norfolk, Virginia on June 9, 1943. By August 1943, Weaver had been transferred for duty at the Naval Air Station Alameda, California. There, Weaver, now Lieutenant (j.g.), was commissioned by the station's Commanding Officer to paint a set of 4 murals for dining halls of the Bachelor Officers Quarters. The murals were the subject of great interest during the station's celebration of its 50th year in 1984. The murals depicted the development of the California territory. 1. Arrival of the Spanish missionaries. 2. Spanish development of California. 3. The gold rush. 4. Modern day California depicting agricultural development and arrival of the aviation industries, and 5. California's wine industry. The murals took 3 months to execute, and were in the style of the 1930s WPA mural work.
Weaver requested to be shipped out overseas into forward positions. He requested to be assigned to Air Rescue Squadron Three (VH-3), which was seeing action near Okinawa. In November 1944 Weaver was assigned to the 12th Naval District, Patrol Bombing Squadron Nineteen, Okinawa. Weaver saw action during the heat of the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign. During his duty with the squadron, Weaver designed the unit's "Squadron Insignia." His VH-3 Squadron rescued numerous downed allied and enemy pilots during the campaign. Flying as a Martin PBM Mariner crew-member, Weaver's VH-3 squadron distinguished itself and earned the Navy Unit Commendation for service from 29 March to 30 June 1945. Throughout the trial overseas Weaver continued to draw, creating numerous action depictions to chronicle his squadron's work. A fine example of this was his work Survivors,http://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/photographs/i834wwq3ru6s0v58r3uycbf5ikolqa a drawing on board of two recovered pilots with blankets over their heads, giving an impression of monks at prayer. The riveted construction of the aircraft's interior recalls the interior of a buttressed cathedral. Weaver separated from the service on 2 February 1946 at the rank of Lieutenant.
Post-war years 1946–1951 Weaver was in Hawaii awaiting reassignment when WWII ended on August 14, 1945. He subsequently undertook a major commission sponsored by Indianapolis Methodist Hospital to paint a large mural in the hospital's children's ward. An Indianapolis News article by author Filomena Gould stated, "I like the story behind the man who is painting murals in the children's ward at Methodist Hospital, making its solarium—the gift of Thomas Taggart—a place of enchantment for the shut-in youngsters. Offhand, it seems to me that what Fragonard was to Versailles, what Van Dyck was to the Stuarts, what Bellows was to the prize ring, and Benton to the barn lot, this Hoosier-bred painter is to the circus."
The Indianapolis News of Thursday, September 5, 1946 announced that Weaver would be added to the Herron Art School faculty for the coming season. A work entitled Portrait of A Woman was included in the Carnegie Institute's exhibition Painting in the United States, 1946. The work was exhibited hanging in line with works by Tully Filmus, Paul Cadmus, Leopold Seyffert, and Reginald Marsh. Grand Central Galleries contacted Weaver on June 28, 1946 to inform him that they had sold "a circus picture," Summer Afternoon to International Business Machines. Another work sold that year. The award-winning Wagon 97 sold to the industrialist Mr. Paul Kollsman. The painting was lost for many years but appeared in an episode of the TV show "Columbo"/Identity Crisis where it can be seen in several shots hanging on the wall in the same frame that was on it until it resurfaced in a December, 1997 sale at Sotheby's Auction house. The painting was purchased by the Spanierman Galleries, New York, NY, and featured in the gallery's sale catalogue entitled The Spirit of America: American Art from 1829-1970. Wagon 97 was featured on the inside cover of the catalogue. Although Weaver had abandoned his studio in New York, he continued to produce work which included more common subjects depicting life in Indiana. The Butcheringhttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/2015/4/18/77et3ge9c5sfrbk9mdqtaztt5k1dt8 was one of these works. Accepted by the National Academy of Design for its 123rd Annual Exhibition in 1949, The Butchering was also shown at the 24th Annual Hoosier Salon, Indianapolis, Indiana, and L. S. Ayres & Company, "75th Anniversary Art Exhibition," November 1947 (Second Prize, $750, Edward Hopper, juror). In 1950 Weaver was selected to execute 4 murals for the new remodeled offices of the president of Eli Lilly & Company, Mr. J. K. Lilly. With the Lilly murals completed, Weaver took advantage of the fresco class being offered at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. The school was in its 6th year in 1951 under the direction of Henry Varnum Poor (designer). The faculty consisted of six instructors and would be augmented by visiting artists among whom could be counted Yasuo Kuniyoshi.
New horizons 1952–1960
The 1950s were referred to by Weaver as has his "Gothic period." The subject matter of his work become more sterile, and several paintings of religious content were produced. Two works in particular are representative of this new period. He Went Up Into the Mountain, and Daniel In the Lions Denhttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/2015/4/18/daniel (aka Daniel) are prime examples of Weaver's work from this period.
His circus themed works also were executed in this new angular style. Weaver's work Unushttp://www.robert-edward-weaver.com/paintings/2015/5/19/unis-c-1950 from 1952 is an example of this as well as his 1956 work Circus Poster now in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The works are also characterized by the use of more earth tones in a manner of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Weaver's use of more earth tones in his coloring continued through much of the 1970s.