J. Alden Weir

Olin Levi Warner

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Warner and J. Alden Weir (1852–1919) likely met in New York in 1877, when both were elected charter members of the Society of American Artists. They probably agreed to sit for each other as a demonstration of artistic camaraderie. This bust reflects Warner’s tendency to fuse idealism with individuality: Weir’s tufted hair, taut skin, and youthful verve were truthfully portrayed. Warner also took inspiration from his mentor, the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, whose male busts feature the same assured modeling, asymmetrical termination of undraped shoulders, alert turn of the head, and integral socle with a decorative tablet.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art