Robert Edward Weaver

Robert Edward Weaver (November 15, 1913 – July 18, 1991) was an American regionalist artist, and illustrator.

He was professor emeritus of art at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Just prior to entering the Chaloner competition, Weaver had received two medals for Mural Design from the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design from 1935 to 1936.

Weaver won the John Armstrong Chaloner Paris Prize in 1937.

This was the largest single art prize at that time for painters in the United States, consisting of a $6,000 stipend for study overseas for 3 years, and a New York studio space.

Among the jury members who awarded Weaver the first prize were sculptor Mahonri Young and the painter Gifford Beal.

After a screening by the Chaloner committee, Weaver along with 15 other artists were invited to submit fully realized works.

For Weaver, that work was Back Door (aka Next Up).

The initial rounds of the competition ended in a tie between Weaver and another artist for the first prize.

The two finalists were challenged by the committee to a paint-off over an allotted amount of time.

Weaver presented two paintings to the final committee.

The Repensky Riders and A Night at the Circus (aka Riding Clowns) see below.

His painting The Repensky Riders (aka Manhattan Matinee) won the competition for Weaver who was only 24 years of age at the time.

Weaver studied painting with Henrik M. Mayer, and sculpture with David K. Rubins at Herron.

Weaver's victory in the Chaloner competition opened many doors for the artist in the New York art world of the time.

Weaver earned a BFA from the Herron School in 1938.

His entry was entitled, A Mural for a Dining Room in a Country House. Weaver went on to win the Third Hallgarten Prize at the National Academy of Design in 1938.

The Hallgarten prize was, “for a picture in oil colors painted in the United States by an American citizen under thirty-five years of age.” The third prize winning entry was entitled Wagon 97.

The painting went on to many exhibitions across the nation through the auspices of the American Federation of Arts.

On April 21, 1938 Weaver received a letter from the Grand Central Art Galleries of New York informing him that their jury had approved his work, and that he was elected a life member of the Galleries.

He was one of 3 out of over 400 applicants to be accepted that year.

Subsequent works went on to be exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, New York State Museum, Albany, NY, and The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio.

Weaver returned home to Indiana in April 1938 to attend his graduation ceremonies at the Herron Art Institute.

On January 12, 1939 the Grand Central Galleries informed Weaver that his work Rehearsal had been sent to the Pennsylvania Academy Jury.

In the meantime, Rehearsal was included in the Academy's Founder's Show and then it was slated to go to The 16th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from March 26 to May 7, 1939.

Another important work, Circus Girl In Her Dressing Tent was shipped to the Pennsylvania Academy for inclusion in their exhibition beginning on January 29, 1939.

Weaver did not return to New York until he sailed for England in the late spring of 1939 following the death of his father.

During his time back in Peru, he painted his large work Those Riding Hannefords which was invited to be exhibited at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.

Weaver embarked aboard the SS Champlain from New York to England on May 25, 1939 to fulfil his Chaloner overseas obligations.

Weaver travelled and studied in some of the major centers of Europe, including London, Amsterdam, and Paris.

He met up with 2 artist friends Harry Davis, and George Prout from the Herron school who were also studying in Europe at the time.

The three friends road bicycles to Le Havre, France to exit the country before the German occupation began.

Upon his return to the United States, Weaver contacted the Chaloner Foundation to obtain permission to finish his overseas study in Mexico.

Weaver and members of his family, including his mother, departed for Mexico on March 18, 1940.

There, Weaver visited many historic sites where he was exposed to the work of muralists such as Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco whose style of work would later inform his mural compositions.

Weaver would not return to New York to do more studio work until September 1941.

Weaver entered the Naval Training School at Ohio State University on April 1, 1943, and upon successful completion was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve.

Ensign Weaver was first assigned duty at NOB Norfolk, Virginia on June 9, 1943.

Weaver grew up in Peru, Indiana, winter home of the American Circus Corporation, a conglomerate of circuses that traveled the country at the later part of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The circus performers that frequented his father's general store influenced his creative senses.