Jose Weiss was born Joseph Vincent Nicholas Francis Weiss to English parents in Paris on January 22, 1859. While young he worked in the wine business, a job that required travel from France to England regularly. On one trip he decided to holiday for a few extra days in Amberley where he painted the local scenery. He was able to sell the finished painting through Goupil Gallery in London for the sum of 12 pounds and realized he could make a living as a full-time artist. He moved to England in 1893 and married an English woman, Agnes Mary Ratton, in 1894 and they lived in Meadow Cottage just opposite Amberley Station. A few years later they moved to Houghton House in Houghton where they lived for the next 23 years. In 1899 Weiss adopted British citizenship by naturalization.
Little is known of the formal training that Weiss received except from that of the French Barbizon School landscape painter Henri-Joseph Harpignies. It is said that Weiss spent his youth sketching and painting and had received many tips and helpful criticism from fellow artists. His training in Barbizon techniques had a profound and continued influence on his work that is evident in his depictions of the Sussex landscape.
Weiss exhibited thirty-three times at the British Royal Academy, as well as three landscapes at the Royal Society of British Artists on Suffolk Street. He exhibited in the Paris Exhibitions from 1894 to 1914 and received Honourable Mention for his piece “February” in 1899. He was a celebrated landscape painter during his lifetime, his work being particularly popular with American collectors and audiences. He is represented in collections and private institutions in Canada, The United States, South America, Africa and throughout the United Kingdom.
Jose Weiss is also remembered as a great pioneer of aviation and a glider enthusiast. While out painting he had become fascinated with birds and how they flew. In the early 20h century he began experimenting with gliders and finally created one large enough to hold a person. In 1909 he and his 17-year-old pilot set a world record for a soaring flight in a glider. He lectured regularly at the Royal Aeronautical Society in the early 20th century and received a posthumous award in the King's Honours List in 1929.