Jerry Weiss (artist)
Encyclopedia
Jerry Weiss is an American figurative
, landscape
, portrait painter
and writer. As a student he studied classical drawing; he initially focused on portraits, and began to paint landscapes during the 1980s.
Weiss is a Contributing Editor of The Artist's Magazine, for which he writes a "Master Class" feature with an overview of historic artists. His father is cartoonist, Morris Weiss.
. His mother wanted to be a fashion artist, but dedicated herself to family, while continuing to paint. His father is Morris Weiss, a well known cartoonist from whom Weiss sees himself as inheriting an irreverence to life.
Weiss was born in New Jersey
, but soon after the family moved to North Miami, Florida. He was influenced by the graphic freedom and assured skill of cartoonists, whose work he saw in his father's large collection. Morris asked for his son's advice when buying works by Dean Cornwell
(1892–1960). and had once sat for James Montgomery Flagg
(1877–1960). As a child, he had over his bed a Saturday Evening Post
cover by J.C. Leyendecker (1874–1951) and later a drawing by Norman Rockwell
.
However, Weiss was put off narrative work after seeing his father's daily hard-working routine for comics such as Mickey Finn
and Joe Palooka
. He sought more enjoyment and personal freedom, and decided to learn classical drawing. He was recommended by George Bolge, a museum director, to study with Roberto Martinez, who had been a student of the sculptor, Marino Marini. From Martinez, Weiss learned to draw life-size, a practice he later taught. He studied at the Art Students League of New York, where Ted Seth Jacobs instructed him on light and form, although he preferred the "more emphatic draftsmanship" of Harvey Dinnerstein
. Weiss later studied at the National Academy of Design
in New York City.
He began his career during the 1980s as a figurative painter. Ten years later, he took on landscapes -a genre in which he is self taught- after realizing he could treat them as he did a figure in an interior, in terms of composition, pattern and shape. In 1994 he started teaching at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
. He held a one-man exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art
in 1999. The executive director of the museum, George S. Bolge, wrote of his paintings:
Weiss said the hardest portraits to work on were impatient sitters with no interest in the art. He explained:
He has held solo exhibitions at galleries in New York, Boston, New Jersey and Maine. His work is represented in the New Britain Museum of American Art
; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
; Pfizer Inc.; the Harvard Club of New York
; Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; Debevoise and Plimpton, New York. He has taught workshops and lectured in Florida, New York, Washington, Maine, and Colorado. He teaches painting and drawing at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
. He is listed in Who's Who in American Art
and Who's Who in the East.
Weiss is represented by The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, and Portraits Inc., New York.
, but mostly with flat brushes to achieve "a kind of blocky modeling". He uses Claessens oil-primed linen for portraits and panels for landscape work. After forming quick outlines, he works rapidly to block in the light and dark areas of the figure and major compositional elements with turpentine-thinned paint. Following this first stage which takes around half-an-hour, he reworks the areas a dozen times or more, constantly refining and unifying.
Weiss usually works to the sizes of a range of standard frames, which are mostly finished in metal or gold leaf.
Weiss is a Contributing Editor of The Artist's Magazine, for which, in July 2008, he began a regular "Master Class" feature of art historical analyses on painting, the history of painting and various works and periods in Western art history
.
That October, he discussed the abstract qualities and character of a particular pastel seascape by the lesser known proto-Impressionist painter Eugène Boudin
. Weiss also pointed out the important influence that Boudin exerted on Claude Monet
when they met in Le Havre
in Normandy
and painted together on the Normandy sea shore. Boudin encouraged and mentored Monet who was still a teenager at the time, and introduced Monet to en plein air
(outdoor) techniques for painting.Biography for Claude Monet Guggenheim Collection. Retrieved 6 January 2007. Weiss drew a comparison between Boudin and the English
landscape painter
John Constable
in the treatment of the sky.
In November 2008, writing on Käthe Kollwitz
, Weiss pointed to the inseparability of technique and expressiveness in the drawings of masters, seeing Kollwitz's knowledge of formal values in a charcoal self-portrait as "a vehicle for the portrayal of a state of deep reflection."
In other articles, he discusses works by Richard Parkes Bonnington, William Merritt Chase
, Thomas Eakins
, the Italian Mannerist
painter Pontormo
, Edgar Degas
' drawings of Edouard Manet
and Michelangelo
's Libyan Sibyl
among others.
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
, landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
, portrait painter
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
and writer. As a student he studied classical drawing; he initially focused on portraits, and began to paint landscapes during the 1980s.
Weiss is a Contributing Editor of The Artist's Magazine, for which he writes a "Master Class" feature with an overview of historic artists. His father is cartoonist, Morris Weiss.
Life and art
Jerry Weiss's parents met at the Art Students League of New YorkArt Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. His mother wanted to be a fashion artist, but dedicated herself to family, while continuing to paint. His father is Morris Weiss, a well known cartoonist from whom Weiss sees himself as inheriting an irreverence to life.
Weiss was born in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, but soon after the family moved to North Miami, Florida. He was influenced by the graphic freedom and assured skill of cartoonists, whose work he saw in his father's large collection. Morris asked for his son's advice when buying works by Dean Cornwell
Dean Cornwell
Dean Cornwell was an American illustrator and muralist. His oil paintings were frequently featured in popular magazines and books as literary illustrations, advertisements, and posters promoting the war effort. Throughout the first half of the 20th century he was a dominant presence in American...
(1892–1960). and had once sat for James Montgomery Flagg
James Montgomery Flagg
James Montgomery Flagg was an American artist and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters....
(1877–1960). As a child, he had over his bed a Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
cover by J.C. Leyendecker (1874–1951) and later a drawing by Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
.
However, Weiss was put off narrative work after seeing his father's daily hard-working routine for comics such as Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (comics)
Mickey Finn was an American comic strip created by cartoonist Lank Leonard, which was syndicated to newspapers from 1936 to 1976. The successful lighthearted strip struck a balance between comedy and drama...
and Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921. The strip debuted in 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers....
. He sought more enjoyment and personal freedom, and decided to learn classical drawing. He was recommended by George Bolge, a museum director, to study with Roberto Martinez, who had been a student of the sculptor, Marino Marini. From Martinez, Weiss learned to draw life-size, a practice he later taught. He studied at the Art Students League of New York, where Ted Seth Jacobs instructed him on light and form, although he preferred the "more emphatic draftsmanship" of Harvey Dinnerstein
Harvey Dinnerstein
Harvey Dinnerstein , is a figurative artist and educator. A draftsman and painter in the realistic tradition, his work has included genre paintings, contemporary narratives, complex figurative compositions, portraits, and intimate images of his family and friends.Dinnerstein was born in Brooklyn,...
. Weiss later studied at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in New York City.
He began his career during the 1980s as a figurative painter. Ten years later, he took on landscapes -a genre in which he is self taught- after realizing he could treat them as he did a figure in an interior, in terms of composition, pattern and shape. In 1994 he started teaching at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts is an art college in Old Lyme, Connecticut-History:The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts was founded in 1976 by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler as a figurative academy for the teaching of sculpture, figure drawing, Illustration and painting dedicated to the fine arts...
. He held a one-man exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art
Boca Raton Museum of Art
The Boca Raton Museum of Art is located at 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, Florida in Mizner Park. It houses works of art by a number of the great masters.-About:...
in 1999. The executive director of the museum, George S. Bolge, wrote of his paintings:
- Jerry Weiss is a product of his age...Weiss with a great heritage goes to the past for design concepts for form, but looks to the present for his investigation of content.
Weiss said the hardest portraits to work on were impatient sitters with no interest in the art. He explained:
- I enjoy spending three or four days with people who have knowledge in their field, and I would like to think it's vice versa. I find great enjoyment in these situations. Once the time is up, the portrait becomes not just a painting in a collection, but a memory of personal time shared.
He has held solo exhibitions at galleries in New York, Boston, New Jersey and Maine. His work is represented in the New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain Museum of American Art
The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art....
; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
; Pfizer Inc.; the Harvard Club of New York
Harvard Club of New York
The Harvard Club of New York is a private club in Midtown Manhattan, New York, New York, USA. Anyone who has attended Harvard University may apply to become a member. Incorporated in 1887, it is housed in adjoining lots at 27 West 44th Street and 35 West 44th Street...
; Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; Debevoise and Plimpton, New York. He has taught workshops and lectured in Florida, New York, Washington, Maine, and Colorado. He teaches painting and drawing at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts is an art college in Old Lyme, Connecticut-History:The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts was founded in 1976 by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler as a figurative academy for the teaching of sculpture, figure drawing, Illustration and painting dedicated to the fine arts...
. He is listed in Who's Who in American Art
Who's Who in American Art
Who's Who in American Art is a biographical hardcover directory of noteworthy individuals in the visual arts community in the United States, published by Marquis Who's Who, formerly by R.R. Bowker Publishing. The directory has also listed some individuals from Canada and Mexico, plus some American...
and Who's Who in the East.
Weiss is represented by The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, and Portraits Inc., New York.
Technique
Weiss uses a wood palette and a small range of colors; typically titanium white, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue and cadmium red light, sometimes with the addition of a deeper red, cadmium yellow light, cerulean and green. He occasionally paints with a knifePalette knife
A palette knife is a blunt tool used for mixing or applying paint, with a flexible steel blade. It is primarily used for mixing paint colors, paste, etc., or for marbling, decorative endpapers, etc...
, but mostly with flat brushes to achieve "a kind of blocky modeling". He uses Claessens oil-primed linen for portraits and panels for landscape work. After forming quick outlines, he works rapidly to block in the light and dark areas of the figure and major compositional elements with turpentine-thinned paint. Following this first stage which takes around half-an-hour, he reworks the areas a dozen times or more, constantly refining and unifying.
Weiss usually works to the sizes of a range of standard frames, which are mostly finished in metal or gold leaf.
Writing
Western art history
Western art is the art of the North American and European countries, and art created in the forms accepted by those countries.Written histories of Western art often begin with the art of the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Aegean civilisations, dating from the 3rd millennium BC...
.
That October, he discussed the abstract qualities and character of a particular pastel seascape by the lesser known proto-Impressionist painter Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors.Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores...
. Weiss also pointed out the important influence that Boudin exerted on Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
when they met in Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and painted together on the Normandy sea shore. Boudin encouraged and mentored Monet who was still a teenager at the time, and introduced Monet to en plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
(outdoor) techniques for painting.Biography for Claude Monet Guggenheim Collection. Retrieved 6 January 2007. Weiss drew a comparison between Boudin and the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
landscape painter
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
in the treatment of the sky.
In November 2008, writing on Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work offered an eloquent and often searing account of the human condition in the first half of the 20th century...
, Weiss pointed to the inseparability of technique and expressiveness in the drawings of masters, seeing Kollwitz's knowledge of formal values in a charcoal self-portrait as "a vehicle for the portrayal of a state of deep reflection."
In other articles, he discusses works by Richard Parkes Bonnington, William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
, Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
, the Italian Mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
painter Pontormo
Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci , usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, Jacopo Pontormo or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine school. His work represents a profound stylistic shift from the calm perspectival regularity that characterized the art of the Florentine...
, Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
' drawings of Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
and Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's Libyan Sibyl
Libyan Sibyl
The Libyan Sibyl, named Phemonoe, was the prophetic priestess presiding over the Zeus Ammon Oracle at Siwa Oasis in the Libyan Desert....
among others.
Awards and honors
- Fellowship for Painting, New Jersey State Council on the ArtsNew Jersey State Council on the ArtsThe New Jersey State Council on the Arts was founded in 1966 to support artistic activities in the state of New Jersey. It is funded by the New Jersey State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts ....
- Best in Show, Hortt Annual, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Isaac Maynard Price, National Academy of Design, New York, 159th Annual Exhibition
- Phillip Isenburg Prize, Salmagundi ClubSalmagundi ClubThe Salmagundi Club, also known as the Salmagundi Art Club, was founded in 1871 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, in the United States. It currently is located at 47 Fifth Avenue...
Annual Show, New York
Public collections
- Boca Raton Museum of ArtBoca Raton Museum of ArtThe Boca Raton Museum of Art is located at 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, Florida in Mizner Park. It houses works of art by a number of the great masters.-About:...
- New Britain Museum of American ArtNew Britain Museum of American ArtThe New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art....
- University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
Further reading
- "When artists judge other artists", The Christian Science Monitor, March 5, 1984.
- "Hortt exhibit is fine finale", The Miami Herald, May 17, 1985.
- "Personal expression prevails at 27th Hortt Competition", News/Sun Sentinel (FT. Lauderdale, Fl.), May 19, 1985.
- "Portrait of the artist as a young master", The Christian Science Monitor, July 25, 1985.
- "Weiss Thrice Equals a Winning Art Show", Gold Coast Weekly Magazine, April 19–26, 1991.
- "Making Models into Art: How six Portrait Painters...", The Artist's Magazine, December 1993.
- "Some whimsy at juried show in New Britain", The Hartford Courant, August 27, 1995.
- "Portrait, Landscape painter brings work to Old Lyme", The Day (New London, Ct), October 9, 1997.
- "Paintings of Jerry Weiss Featured in Solo Exhibition at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts", Antiques and The Arts Weekly, October 24, 1997.
- "Revealing Images", The Day, New London, February 22, 2002.
- "Lyme Academy Instructor Jerry Weiss to Show Paintings at The Cooley Gallery", Antiques and The Arts Weekly, August 30, 2002.
- "Across the Bridge", New York Times, Connecticut section, September 29, 2002.
- "Jerry Weiss: Observe, Think, and Practice", American Artist Workshop for Oil and Acrylic Painters, pages 86–99, Winter 2005.
- Art in Embassies Program, United States Embassy Kigali, U.S. Department of State, 2006, pages 10–12.
- "Beyond Expectation: Nonarchival Drawing Surfaces", American Artist Drawing Magazine, Spring 2006, p. 28-29.
External links
- Jerry Weiss official website
- Portraits
- A Lasting Impression, Hartford Courant, March 4, 2008
- Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State
- Artist to unveil paintings at the Main Street Gallery in Chester Jan. 15, Middletown Press, January 14, 2010
- Hamden Art League kicks off season with portrait and landscape artist Jerry Weiss, Post-Chronicle, August 25, 2010
- Making a statement, The Day, illustrated. January 19, 2010
- Four artists arrive, but from different directions, Westerly Sun, illustrated. December 18, 2009