Description
Julian Alden Weir's painting shows the construction of the Scotland Dam, built between 1907 and 1909 on the Shetucket River near his summer home in Windham, Connecticut. The artist had a vested interest in the subject, as the dam ensured an energy supply to the area's inhabitants that included his family.
Provenance
The artist's estate; Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, DC, purchased in 1923; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, purchased in 1927
Accession Number
1927.171
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 93.5 x 118.5 x 7.5 cm (36 13/16 x 46 5/8 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 76 x 101.6 cm (29 15/16 x 40 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Tags
Painting Early Modern (1901–1950) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919) was an American painter known as one of the most important members of the American Impressionist group, whose atmospheric landscapes and figure paintings make him one of the most important American painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Building of the Dam from 1908 depicts the construction of a dam in the atmospheric, Impressionist manner that distinguishes Weir's best work from the more brightly colored painting of his Impressionist contemporaries. The 1908 date places this in Weir's mature period, when he was producing the atmospheric, Impressionist landscapes that are his most accomplished works.
Cultural Impact
The Building of the Dam is important in the history of American Impressionism because it demonstrates the atmospheric, Impressionist manner that Weir brought to landscape subjects as one of the most important members of the American Impressionist group. Weir's atmospheric, Impressionist landscapes—combining the atmospheric effect of the American countryside with the Impressionist technique he developed from his study in France—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in American Impressionism, and the 1908 painting shows this tradition at its mature phase.
Why It Matters
The Building of the Dam is Weir's atmospheric American Impressionism: dam construction rendered in the Impressionist manner of one of the most important members of the American Impressionist group. The 1908 painting shows the atmospheric, Impressionist technique that Weir developed from his study in France applied to the American landscape.
