The Debut of Tweedy-Bird (The Tweedy-Bird Limner)
When the matched paintings of “ Newburgh Children ” and “ Palmer Children ” first appeared at Christie’s 2024 Important Americana (lots 429/430) , they were attributed to Edwin Weyburn Goodwin. But they bore a striking resemblance to the fine and elaborate portrait, “Miss Tweedy of Brooklyn,” attributed to Orlando Hand Bears for decades. As it turns out: Bears didn’t paint Miss Tweedy (real name Eliza Bird Tweedy.) Nor did he paint the identical portrait of Mary Louisa Bird — Eliza’s younger sister! And the “Tweedy-Bird Limner” was born.
