Wesley C. Wehr
| Wesley Conrad Wehr | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 17, 1929 Everett, Washington |
| Died |
April 12, 2004 (aged 74) Seattle, Washington |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Paleobotany, The Northwest School |
| Institutions | Burke Museum |
| Known for | Fossil leaf analysis, painting |
Wesley Conrad Wehr (April 17, 1929 – April 12, 2004) was an American paleontologist and artist best known for his studies of Cenozoic fossil floras in western North America, the Stonerose Interpretive Center, and as a part of the Northwest School of art. Wehr published two books with University of Washington Press that chronicled his friendships with artists and scientists.
Wesley Conrad Wehr was born as the only child of Conrad J. Wehr and Ingeborg (Hall) Wehr, in Everett, Washington on April 17, 1929. As a child he displayed an aptitude for music which was encouraged with private lessons. In his senior year of high school, two of his compositions Pastoral Sketches for Violin and Piano and Spanish Dance came to the attention of George F. McKay, then and instructor at the University of Washington. McKay invited Wehr for private study with him, and in 1947 Wehr entered the University. He was a recipient of the Lorraine Decker Campbell Award for original composition, He graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts then with his Master of Arts in 1954. Wehr first began painting in 1960.
Wes had a creative spirit that was expressed in many ways. He started out with music composition, and later studied poetry with Theodore Roethke. Painter Mark Tobey was introduced to Wehr in 1949 by their pianist friend Berthe Poncy Jacobson. Wehr, an undergraduate at the time, happily accepted the opportunity to serve as a stand-in music composition tutor for Tobey, and over time became friends with him and his circle of artists. Tobey introduced Wehr to Guy Anderson, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, Pehr Hallsten, and Helmi Juvonen. Tobey encouraged him in painting, and Guy Anderson insisted he learn how to draw.
Wehr was a student of the noted poet Elizabeth Bishop in 1953, and in 1967 she wrote a gallery note for a showing of Wehr's paintings. In the gallery note she commented on the small size of his works and compared them to short works of music. In a similar reflection, Bishop commented on Wehr transporting new works in an old briefcase and showing them at a local coffee house, and the effect the painting had on those viewing them. Bishop notes that Wehr was a collector of natural objects such as agates, amber, and fossils. She noted that Wehr's works possessed a "chilling sensation of time and space".
...
Wikipedia