Lot 74: ROBERT WALTER WEIR (NEW ROCHELLE 1803-1889) The Two Marys at the Sepulchre,

ROBERT WALTER WEIR (NEW ROCHELLE 1803-1889) The Two Marys at the Sepulchre, signed and dated "Robb'W.Weir./1865" (lower left). Oil on canvas, 81.5 by 122 cm.
Literature: I. Weir, Robert W. Weir, Artist , New York 1947, p. 115.

Robert Walter Weir became an outstanding figure in the social and intellectual life of New York City after his return from Italy where he studied the work of famous Old Masters between 1824 and 1828. He was a prominent member of the Hudson River School and famous for his romantic landscapes. His most celebrated work is Embarkation of the Pilgrims , which was installed in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building in 1843.

Two Marys at the Sepulchre combines Weir's devotion to his faith and his excellent draughtsmanship. The composition is filled with the deep emotion of death and the tragedy of sorrow, the same feelings shared by the artist after his first wife died in childbirth along with their unborn child in 1845. After this tragic event, Weir favoured religious and dramatic subjects such as Christ in the Garden , the Evening of the Crucifixion as well as Two Marys at the Sepulchre . Weir was one of the leading practitioners of religious paintings in America during the 19th century.

This painting is full of pathos and shows Weir's knowledge and understanding of the technique employed by Old Masters. The composition is carefully constructed; the two Marys in mourning are sitting opposite the sepulchre at the centre, in the foreground, but the eye of the spectator is led through the entire composition thanks to a play of horizontal and diagonal lines. The mystical atmosphere which characterizes Weir's works, is created here by the dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. The eye of the spectator is led from the dark clouds in the background to the top of the hill of Calvary, where the three crosses are emphatically shown.