Weber, Carl

Born in Philadelphia in 1855 to the landscape artist Gottlieb Daniel Paul Weber (German, 1823-1916), who had moved to Philadelphia for work in 1848/1849, Carl studied under his father alongside his cousin, the landscape painter Carl Philipp Weber (American, 1849-1921).

In 1857 Weber traveled with his father to Scotland and toured Germany, settling for a time in his father's hometown of Darmstadt, Germany in 1860 where he studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Art under the landscape painter Karl Raupp (1837–1918) and took private lessons from Jakob Becker (1810–1872) and Johann Eduard von Steinle (1810–1886).

Weber returned to Philadelphia in the mid-to-late 1870s where he shared a studio with his cousin, Carl Philipp Weber. He devoted himself exclusively to landscape paintings and extensively painted the landscapes throughout rural Eastern Pennsylvania as well as nearby New Jersey, scenes throughout New Hampshire and elsewhere in the New England States as well as Illinois. While his work would remain rooted in the German Romantic traditions of his formal academic training, his work was heavily influenced by the French Barbizon. Despite the large number of oil paintings he produced, he excelled at watercolor painting. In his 1881 through 1886 submissions to the National Academy of Design, Weber listed his studio address as 238 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, while his 1893 submission noted a move to 816 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

Weber's exhibitions include the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1876 through 1905), the Philadelphia Art Club (1891 through 1908) and the National Academy of Design (1881 through 1893). He was awarded a Gold Medal in 1902 by the American Art Association, received Honorable Mention at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, again being recognized with Honorable Mention at the 1895 Atlanta Exposition.

The close working relationship and nearness in age between Carl Weber and his cousin Carl Philipp Weber has led to some confusion among galleries and auction houses in attributing their work. 

While both men focused on landscapes with an overall Barbizon influence, Carl Weber was heavily influenced by his father's passion for romantic elements and he excelled at watercolor painting, while his cousin became a very accomplished painter of coastal scenes and landscapes with a distinctive luminist style of painting. Further distinguishing the men is the signatures. Carl Weber exclusively signed his work "Carl Weber" in bold flowing script, generally with great flourish to the W and a swirling ellipses from the R underlining the signature; Carl Phillip Weber signed his work for the most part as "Carl Ph. Weber" in a more standard block script. For examples of the differences in taste, style and signatures, view our current gallery inventory and our archives; we have carried works from both artists and have extensive close up photography available for comparison studies.

Artist Listings & Bibliography:

• Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, Opitz, 1983, p. 988
• E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. XIV, Gründ, 2006, p. 705
• Exhibition of the  National Academy, 1861-1900, Vol. II, Kennedy Galleries, 1973, p. 1000-1001
• The New York Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860, Groce & Wallace, 1979, p. 668 [bio for Paul Weber]