Max Weyl (American1837-1914)

Max Weyl was born in Washington, D.C. on December 1, 1837 and he died on July 6, 1914 in Wurtemberg, Germany. He grew up in the Washington and Virginia area and was an adept painter as a lad. He studied in Europe and was highly influenced by the Barbizon painters prior to 1875, yet he maintained a tight adherence to the academic tradition exploited by Hudson River painters until the 1880s.

Weyl was a member of the Society of Washington Artists and won two prizes with that association in 1901 and 1904, but he remained a recluse most of his artistic life and did not like to exhibit or enter painting contests. He painted diligently throughout Europe and after coming back to America in the 1870s, he returned to Germany to live and paint.

Weyl was close friends with Maine marine painter William S. Barrett and New York marine painter Paul Dougherty. He was highly respected for his dramatic impressions of the American and European landscape, in which he used glowing Barbizon tones to display nature's moods.