Portrait of a Lady with a Dog (Anna Baker Weir)

J. Alden Weir, Portrait of a Lady with a Dog (Anna Baker Weir), ca. 1890, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mahonri Sharp Young, 1977.92
J. Alden Weir, Portrait of a Lady with a Dog (Anna Baker Weir), ca. 1890, oil on canvas, 2217 38 in. (56.044.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mahonri Sharp Young, 1977.92
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Artwork Details

Title
Portrait of a Lady with a Dog (Anna Baker Weir)
Date
ca. 1890
Dimensions
2217 38 in. (56.044.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mahonri Sharp Young
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait female — Weir, Anna Baker — knee length
  • Animal — dog
Object Number
1977.92

Artwork Description

J. Alden Weir taught painting classes in New York City while he cultivated his reputation as a portrait artist. Nineteen-year-old Anna Dwight Baker was one of his students, and after a brief courtship the two married in 1883. Anna Weir's friends variously described her as "ethereal," "like some beautiful dream woman," qualities her husband captured in this portrait of her with his subtle, impressionistic style. She leans forward in a black ladder-back chair, holding her dog, Gyp, in her lap. Just over her shoulder the bedroom door is ajar, providing the viewer with a more intimate glimpse into the private life of the artist. Anna Weir died in 1892 due to complications after the birth of the couple's fourth child. This touching, personal portrait remained in the family's collection until it was given to the American Art Museum in 1977. (Dorothy Weir Young, The Life & Letters of J. Alden Weir, 1960)

Works by this artist (130 items)

J. Alden Weir, A Gentlewoman, 1906, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans, 1909.7.72
A Gentlewoman
Date1906
oil on canvas
On view
J. Alden Weir, (Landscape), after 1900, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mahonri Sharp Young, 1978.110
(Landscape)
Dateafter 1900
oil on wood
On view
J. Alden Weir, Upland Pasture, ca. 1905, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans, 1909.7.73
Upland Pasture
Dateca. 1905
oil on canvas
On view

More Artworks from the Collection

William Holbrook Beard, The Runaway Match, 1877, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.55
The Runaway Match
Date1877
oil on canvas
Not on view
John Henry Twachtman, Figure in Sunlight (Artist's Wife), ca. 1890-1900, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.137
Figure in Sunlight (Artist’s Wife)
Dateca. 1890-1900
oil on canvas
On view
Unidentified (Italian), Saint, 19th century, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney, 1952.13.157
Saint
Artist
Unidentified (Italian)
Date19th century
oil on canvas
Not on view