William McGregor Paxton (1869-1941)

Portrait of Frederick Redfield Weed

Details
William McGregor Paxton (1869-1941)
Portrait of Frederick Redfield Weed
signed and dated 'Paxton 1918' upper right--inscribed 'Begun Feb 10, 1918 Finished March 30, 1918 Frederick Redfield Weed Age 11 years 9 mos' on the reverse
oil on canvas
36 x 29in. (91.5 x 73.7cm.)
Provenance
Charles Frederick Weed, the sitter's father, Boston, Massachusetts
By descent in the family to the present owner

Lot Essay

Charles Frederick Weed commissioned William McGregor Paxton to paint the portrait of his son, Frederick Redfield Weed, in 1918. The elder Weed was vice president of the First National Bank of Boston and a personal friend of J. Pierpont Morgan. Like many of Paxton's patrons, Charles F. Weed was a member of Boston's intellectual and social elite.

Frederick Redfield Weed attended Harvard College and upon graduation travelled to Europe on the maiden voyage of the Corsair, J.P. Morgan's celebrated yacht, a trip arranged by Weed's father. Frederick Weed pursued a career in education and later served as headmaster of the Roxbury Latin School, which was founded in 1645 and remains today as the oldest school in continous existence in North America.

The work retains its original signed Foster Brothers frame.