Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919), Face in Shadow, c.1910, oil on canvas, 33 7/8 x 24 1/8 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchase/gift of the Mahonri M. Young Estate, 1959.
'Toward girlhood and womanhood Weir . . . felt a respect which it would be difficult to exaggerate.' --Lawrence W. Chisholm
Shortly after 1900, Julian Weir began regularly posing models rather than family members for his paintings of young women. In today's highlight from the MOA collection of American art, Weir's model is dressed in evening attire with perhaps an evening bag in her lap and a long cape draped over her chair. The shadowed face casts an air of mystery over the piece. Is the young woman reflecting on the events of the evening after returning home, or is she anticipating an evening event?