W.E.B. Starkweather

W.E.B. Starkweather

William Edward Bloomfield Starkweather (W.E.B. Starkweather) was born on May 10, 1876, in Belfast, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States with his mother in 1884. He was a painter best known for his Impressionist landscapes that uniquely blended the American Impressionist Movement with Spanish art influences. He was also an influential art teacher and writer. He wrote important books about the artists John Singer Sargent and Francisco Goya.

Starkweather studied at the Art Students' League in New York, where he was taught by John Henry Twachtman, a member of the group of American Impressionists. It is most likely that Starkweather developed his interest in light and vibrant colors during this period, which he went on to practice in his own work. In November 1899, Starkweather went to Paris to begin his studies at the Académie Colarossi where he became enamored with the work of  Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla. He contacted Sorolla and asked to be taken on as a student, and he spent three years learning from the Spanish master.

Upon his return to the United States, Starkweather lectured extensively on Spanish art, published numerous works, and became an assistant curator at the Hispanic Society in New York City.

Starkweather's paintings can be found in the Brooklyn Museum and the Hickory Museum in North Carolina. Our card Dandelions is inspired by his painting of the same name, which is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

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