The Factory Village

Julian Alden Weir

1897 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Having studied with leading academic painters in Paris, Weir was repelled by French Impressionism in the 1870s. By the 1890s, however, under the influence of Childe Hassam, Theodore Robinson, and others, he had himself adopted the style. Here, he celebrated picturesque New England industry, offering symbols of progress in harmony with nature. A large tree spreads its protective canopy over two telegraph poles, in the extreme foreground, as well as over the smokestack and spool shop (with tower) of the Willimantic Linen Company’s Connecticut factory. In the tranquil scene, there is no hint of the company’s labor woes or financial problems.

Artist

Julian Alden Weir

Date

1897

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Cora Weir Burlingham, 1979, and Purchase, Marguerite and Frank Cosgrove Jr. Fund, 1998