John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926),
Popindrecht, Holland, 1881, oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 18 1/4 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art.
American artist John Ferguson Weir was born on August 28, 1841. He painted this Dutch village scene during a month-long visit with his younger brother, Julien Alden Weir, whose birthday also falls on this week. John Ferguson had a busy career directing Yale University’s art program when he ventured abroad in 1881. His painting weaves details of Dutch peasant life into the rural atmosphere of a summer afternoon—a heaping haystack, brass milk jugs, chickens, and the wooden clogs of the Dutch women. Incidentally, John spelled the name of the village, Papendrecht, incorrectly in his letters and the title of this painting.