Max WEYL
1837–1914, Germany/USA

Max Weyl was born in Muhlen-am-Neckar, Germany and came to Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1853 before moving to Washington in 1861. Self-taught, Weyl drew on three major influences in his art; Hudson River School; Barbizon School and the American painter George Inness. Originally a watchmaker's apprentice, Weyl opened his own jewelry store in Washington after emigrating to the United States in 1861. He started painting flowers and still lifes as a hobby, displaying his work in his own shop for many years. Samuel Kauffmann, President of the Board of Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and publisher of the "Evening Star" newspaper, became a patron of his paintings after he stopped by Weyl's shop to have his watch repaired. Kauffman continued to purchase paintings over time, as did such Presidential wives as Mrs. Grover Cleveland and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, who favored Weyl's Washington area landscapes. After a trip to Europe to see fine art in museums there, the influence of the Barbizon painters became stronger, so much so that he came to be called by some the "American Daubigny". The first decade of the new century incorporated more of the style reflecting his admiration of the paintings of George Inness, painting poetic landscapes around the Potomac River and Rock Creek Valley outside Washington.

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