Alexander Weygers
Alexander Weygers | |
---|---|
philosopher, and author | |
Movement | Sustainable living |
Alexander George Weygers (October 12, 1901–July 23, 1989) was a
Biography
Weygers was born in
In 1916, his prosperous parents sent him to the Netherlands to study. First he attended a secondary school where, among other things, he studied the discipline of
Devastated by the death of his wife, Weygers decided to abandon engineering for art. In July 1929,[4] Alex took a summer class organized by the Art Institute of Seattle[5] (the precursor of the Seattle Art Museum and unrelated to the identically named for-profit institution), studying sculpture under Avard Fairbanks. He created one of his most notable sculptures, Mourning, that caught the attention of world-renowned sculptor Lorado Taft in which he won a scholarship at Lorado Taft Midway Studios in Chicago. Following that he studied various aspects of art in the European centers that were renowned for the areas that interested him. Moving to California in the 1930s, he established a studio in Berkeley and began teaching. Alex was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1934.[6]
In August 1942, he entered the U.S. Army[7] and his command of Malay, Dutch, Italian, German, and English led to his assignment to the intelligence operations.
He received a
During his service in the army he was given a Carmel Valley property where, over several decades, he and his new wife, Marian, would build a retreat with a residence and studios, while he pursued his career teaching at Berkeley.
Marian Weygers, his second wife, had graduated from the University of California at Berkeley as an art major where she worked and studied under Chiura Obata, who taught her ink wash painting and design. She developed a printmaking process that she named "imprints from nature", using natural materials such as flowers, leaves, and grass as well as rocks and insects.
Alex and Marian Weygers relocated to the Monterey Peninsula in the 1960s and settled into their former retreat in Carmel Valley that then served as their home and studios. This was the location of his death at the age of eighty-seven. Marian remained very active in environmental and civic issues in Carmel Valley until her death in 2008.
Artistic career
In 1937 Weygers was recognized with a
The San Francisco Chronicle which began a discussion of Weygers by stating that they were "never given to idle flattery", stated that "Alexander Weygers as a modern Leonardo da Vinci..." and continued, "...He commands attention because he is a success by any standard of excellence in half a dozen professions... a sculptor of heroic dimensions, an inventor, a marine, mechanical, and aeronautic engineer, an artist with a camera, a designer and illustrator, and a virtuoso practitioner of endgrain half-tone wood engraving. He is also blacksmith, machinist, carpenter, electrician, plumber, toolmaker, and beekeeper. He is further a teacher and a reluctant prophet upon whom the admiring descend."
Before 1940 his work was included in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and was recognized as an artist of national significance.
Discopter
The "Discopter" was a vertical liftoff aircraft that looked very much like what was to be later termed "flying saucer". He made numerous detailed drawings of the aircraft portrayed in various American cities - specifically, San Francisco and Chicago. He sent these detailed plans to all the branches of the U.S. Military and was eventually told that they were intrigued by the concept and the design of the craft but were not prepared at that time because the war effort superseded its development. However, he did indeed patent the design for the "Discopter" in January 1944 with the U.S. Patent Office,[8][9] and it served as the prototype for other similar aircraft that have been developed up to the present day.[10]
Published works
Besides his works in sculpture, painting, photography, and wood engraving he is a published author in fields as diverse as philosophy, blacksmithing, and the creation of tools. Some of his most popular titles are The Modern Blacksmith, The Making of Tools, and The Recycling, Use, and Repair of Tools; the first is sometimes described as the bible of blacksmiths. All of these have been compiled into a publication released posthumously in 1997 with the title The Complete Modern Blacksmith.
Philosophy
Weygers's philosophical view was agnostic and he asserted that "Truth" was the source of life—being defined as the forces and concise designs inherent in Nature and her works. One of his students, Peter B. Partch, states that Weygers equated Nature with the concepts of deity among human cultures, and defined Nature as "the all-encompassing truth motivating all universal unseen forces, being self-governing and creating rock, plant, and animal evolution bound". Further, he relates that Weygers advocated that one should "live life to the fullest", by which he meant doing what one desires in life "for the love of it" rather than for fame or financial gain. Through living simply, and in accordance with his philosophy, each would gain the ultimate freedom possible and produce actions and works of great merit—adhering to a discipline that included learning how to continuously reduce reliance upon material needs. Weygers advocated the reuse of waste materials cast off as useless trash by contemporary societies by adapting them to other needs or making artistic creations with them. Recycling and Sustainable living are the current terms for his concepts.
Weygers Foundation
Randall Hunter founded the Weygers Foundation to create awareness and "to inspire innovation in the areas of the visual and graphic arts and self-sustainability". He died in 2017, and his efforts are documented in Ashlee Vance's 2018 article, "The Forgotten Legend of Silicon Valley’s Flying Saucer Man".[11]
References
- Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
- http://www.weygers.com
- ^ ""Washington, Western District, Naturalization Records, 1853-1957", database with images, Alexander George Weygers, 1926". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ ""United States Census, 1930," Alex Weygers in household of Maud Holden Edga, Seattle, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 89, sheet 7A, line 21, family 91, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2497; FHL microfilm 2,342,231". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Department of Health, Death Certificates, July 1, 1907 - December 31, 1995, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives". Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ "ART INSTITUTE ANNOUNCEMENT". Seattle Art Museum Libraries: Digital Collections. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "ART INSTITUTE OF SEATTLE ANNUAL REPORT 1929-1930". Seattle Art Museum Libraries: Digital Collections. Lloyd Owen Printer. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ ""Washington, Western District, Naturalization Records, 1853-1957", Alexander George Weygers, 1934". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ ""United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," Alexander G Weygers, enlisted 19 Aug 1942, San Francisco, California, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ Weygers, Alexander George. "Discopter: Rotorcraft characterised by having shrouded rotors, e.g. flying platforms". Google Patents. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ US patent 2377835, Alexander George Weygers, "Discopter", published June 5, 1945
- ^ "Fine art for sale | Fineartestate | Gallery". Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
- ^ Vance, Ashlee (19 November 2018). "The Forgotten Legend of Silicon Valley's Flying Saucer Man". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 6 February 2021.