Roses with a Glass Goblet and a Cast of Giovanni Bologna's "Venus after the Bath"

In the 1880s, Weir began experimenting in watercolor, a medium he had practiced since his childhood. After seeing the still-life paintings by Jean Siméon Chardin and Éduoard Manet in Paris in the 1870s, Weir was inspired to experiment with the genre. In these works, he often embraced a dark palette employed by the Old Masters, as opposed to the lighter colors favored by the Impressionists, whose works he initially disdained. In this still life, Weir displays his technical skills in the careful rendering of diverse surfaces—from the transparent crystal goblet to the dense and semi-reflective tankard. The flowers are boldly rendered as they wilt and lose their petals, suggesting a theme of transience. At right, a bronze figurine of Venus by the Italian Mannerist sculptor Giambologna (1529–1608) reveals Weir’s appreciation for art-historical traditions.