American artist. Born in Russia, his abstract style at first angered critics, but eventually he came to be recognized as one of America’s most vigorous artists. In 1954, he was elected to membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Among contemporary American artists, none has struck his roots more deeply into the spiritual soil of Judaism than he. His best works are those which deal with Jewish topics. Favorite subjects are the Talmudists Weber saw in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn; he has painted them sitting around the table, using their eloquent hands to underline an argument. He often elongates and even distorts their faces and figures, to indicate the highest pitch of emotional and spiritual experience.