Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919)

Weir began The Two Sisters in the 1890s, a time when he was well established and had reached his artistic maturity, especially in the realm of figure painting. Indeed, the figure had been an emphasis for Weir since the beginning of his career. In 1869, after leaving his father’s tutelage in his native West Point, New York, his training at the National Academy of Design in New York from 1869 through 1872 consisted primarily of copying antique casts. The basis of his approach to the figure was instilled, however, during the years 1873 through 1877, which he spent in Paris, receiving instruction from the prominent academic painter Jean Léon Gérôme. From Gérôme, Weir learned to develop a careful method in which he composed his pictures conscientiously, often working from preliminary sketches that he improved until they became arranged and balanced paintings. He learned to emphasize strong contrasts of light and shade and to pay more attention to the movement of the figure rather than to detail or high finish.

Read more about this painting in Featured Paintings.