Hugh Weller Art
American, 1898-1982
Born in a farming community incorporated in 1892 some 20 miles north of Greeley, Weller’s father held several important positions in the small town on the eastern plains of Colorado. After the turn of the nineteenth century he was one of the incorporators of the Eaton Building & Loan Association, one of six of the town’s trustees, and cashier at the First National Bank in Eaton. After his father’s death in 1915, Weller relocated to Denver to pursue an art career, initially painting scenery for the Elitch Gardens Theater and the Denham Theater. In 1919 he left Denver to study with George Bellows at the Art Institute of Chicago and for two years thereafter at the British Academy in Rome.
Returning to Denver in the early 1920s, he taught at the Denver Academy of Fine & Applied Arts. Founded in 1920 by John C. Cory, a New York newspaper cartoonist who came to Denver for health reasons and became a Rocky Mountain News cartoonist, the Academy functioned until 1924 at Brinton Terrace. Termed Denver’s ‘Greenwich Village,” the Terrace was located between Broadway and Lincoln on East 18th Avenue. Weller’s fellow faculty members included recognized artists John E. Thompson and Robert A. Graham, David Spivak and Margaret Tee.
While teaching at the Academy Weller married Maude H. Allen in Denver in December 1922. Two years later when the Academy became the Chappell School of Art and relocated to Chappell House (the first home of the Denver Art Museum) he moved on to pursue a successful commercial advertising career.
With the onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930s, Weller was one of more than two dozen Colorado artists who received commissions in 1933-34 under the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), the first of several federal government public art projects during that era.
When the Great Depression wound down, he resumed his commercial art career. He obtained lucrative accounts for a repackaging campaign with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in Pueblo, Colorado, involving everything from letterhead to box car logos. He also designed bottle labels for the Duffy’s Delicious Drinks Company in Denver that distributed its products to a number of other states in the West. His wife proved indispensable as his agent meeting and dealing with clients. His successful commercial art career did not negatively impact his fine art oeuvre, but it relieved him of the pressure to exhibit and sell his work and to contend with the vagaries of the art market
Regardless of style, his work remained quiet and subdued, not overly concerned with the strife and turmoil surrounding the Great Depression or the later advent of Abstract Expressionism. As noted by the reviewer in the Rocky Mountain News in 1941, Weller’s work is “soberly considered and in the contemplative vein.” He himself said, “My aims in painting are plasticity without distortion; restrained speed of movement.”
©David Cook Galleries, LLC(Biography provided by David Cook Galleries)
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Artist: Hugh Weller
Harbor, Framed Mid Century Abstract Oil Painting, Pink Orange Yellow Green
By Hugh Weller
Located in Denver, CO
Original abstract oil painting by Hugh Weller (1898-1982). This mid-century modern work is painted in colors of yellow, green, orange, purple, pink and white/ivory. Presented in a v...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Hugh Weller Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
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Hugh Weller art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Hugh Weller art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Hugh Weller in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Hugh Weller art, so small editions measuring 29 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of August Mosca, Robert Freiman, and Irene Zevon. Hugh Weller art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,895 and tops out at $1,895, while the average work can sell for $1,895.