Description
An incredibly fine & vivid work in oil on canvas of a rural farm house with figures walking along a ruddy path before an expansive landscape under brilliant clouds. The work is signed lower left in his bold & typical script "Carl Weber" & retains old labels verso from the Frank Schwarz gallery in Philadelphia from at least two instances where it was carried in their gallery. An old oxidized & nearly illegible business card for Carl Weber is affixed verso & is inscribed "View at Rockaway N.J. / Morris County / B $ .250" & an old framers label is also attached noting restoration completed on the original frame. A deteriorated label is affixed to the top of the frame in a tiny plastic bag. The work is housed in an original giltwood frame. ARTIST Born in Philadelphia in 1855 to the landscape artist Gottlieb Daniel Paul Weber (German, 1823-1916), who had moved to Philadelphia for work in 1848/1849, Carl studied under his father alongside his cousin, the landscape painter Carl Philipp Weber (American, 1849-1921). in 1857 Weber traveled with his father to Scotland & toured Germany, settling for a time in his father's hometown of Darmstadt, Germany in 1860 where he studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Art under the landscape painter Karl Raupp (1837-1918) & took private lessons from Jakob Becker (1810-1872) & Johann Eduard von Steinle (1810-1886). Weber returned to Philadelphia in the mid-to-late 1870s where he shared a studio with his cousin, Carl Philipp Weber. He devoted himself exclusively to landscape paintings & extensively painted the landscapes throughout rural Eastern Pennsylvania as well as nearby New Jersey, scenes throughout New Hampshire & elsewhere in the New England States as well as Illinois. While his work would remain rooted in the German Romantic traditions of his formal academic training, his work was heavily influenced by the French Barbizon. Despite the large number of oil paintings he produced, he excelled at watercolor painting. in his 1881 through 1886 submissions to the National Academy of Design, Weber listed his studio address as 238 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, while his 1893 submission noted a move to 816 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Weber's exhibitions include the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1876 through 1905), the Philadelphia Art Club (1891 through 1908) & the National Academy of Design (1881 through 1893). He was awarded a Gold Medal in 1902 by the American Art Association, received Honorable Mention at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, again being recognized with Honorable Mention at the 1895 Atlanta Exposition. The close working relationship & nearness in age between Carl Weber & his cousin Carl Philipp Weber has led to some confusion among galleries & auction houses in attributing their work. While both men focused on landscapes with an overall Barbizon influence, Carl Weber was heavily influenced by his father's passion for romantic elements & he excelled at watercolor painting,
