Union Square
Julian Alden Weir
American Art
On View:
The Conservator's Eye
Set in Manhattan’s Union Square, this scene captures the urban street types and bohemian artists who populated the neighborhood.
Julian Alden Weir cut apart a larger composition titled In the Park sometime after it received harsh criticism at the 1879 Society of American Artists exhibition. One of three fragments, Union Square was cut in the shape of an oval and expanded into a rectangle through the addition of four spandrels, the triangular additions at the corners. Weir extended the composition onto the additions, filling in the sky and the bottom of the central figure’s fur muff. There is a tonal difference between the two generations of paint. This is because Weir matched the newer colors to a dirty varnish layer on the oval, which has since been cleaned away.
Set in Manhattan’s Union Square, this scene captures the urban street types and bohemian artists who populated the neighborhood.
Julian Alden Weir cut apart a larger composition titled In the Park sometime after it received harsh criticism at the 1879 Society of American Artists exhibition. One of three fragments, Union Square was cut in the shape of an oval and expanded into a rectangle through the addition of four spandrels, the triangular additions at the corners. Weir extended the composition onto the additions, filling in the sky and the bottom of the central figure’s fur muff. There is a tonal difference between the two generations of paint. This is because Weir matched the newer colors to a dirty varnish layer on the oval, which has since been cleaned away.
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
DATES
ca. 1879
DIMENSIONS
29 7/8 x 24 15/16 in. (75.9 x 63.4 cm)
frame: 41 3/4 x 36 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. (106 x 93.3 x 14.6 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower right: "J Alden Weir"
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
26.410
CREDIT LINE
Museum Collection Fund
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Julian Alden Weir (American, 1852–1919). Union Square, ca. 1879. Oil on canvas, 29 7/8 x 24 15/16 in. (75.9 x 63.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 26.410 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 26.410_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 26.410_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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