Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Weidner spent nearly sixty years teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He trained at the Academy beginning in 1934 and later continued his studies at the Barnes Foundation. He joined the WPA, Works Progress Administration, between 1936 and 1938. Weidner experienced success at the Carnegie International, the Corcoran Biennials, and the Academy Annual Juried Exhibitions. This alluring portrait of an introspective sitter demonstrates the artist’s academic training in the depiction of the human form. The painting also shows the influence of early American modernist artists such as fellow Pennsylvania Academy graduate and Ashcan School painter, Robert Henri.
