Wein studied in Baltimore at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts and in New York at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the Grand Central Art School. In 1931-32, he was enrolled at the National Academy's school in the life class under Ivan Olinsky.
In the late 1940s, he was named a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and won a Tiffany Foundation grant which allowed him to travel and study in Europe and Greece. His first oneÄartist show, held at the Argent Gallery in New York in 1952, featured a selection of his religious sculptures. He executed many commissions for religious institutions such as the Gramercy Park Memorial Chapel and the Jewish Museum, both in New York; Temple Israel, Hollywood, California; Temple Beth David, Temple City, California; and St. Michael Episcopal Church, Anaheim, California. His largest work is the granite allegorical relief which adorns the Libby Dam Treaty Tower in Montana.
Wein moved to California in 1955 but returned to the east coast in 1976 and settled in Connecticut. While sculpture was his main interest, he also produced works in other media, including painting, watercolor, and graphics.
His work appeared in the annual exhibitions of the National Academy from 1942 until the year of his death. He won a number of awards at these annuals including the 1976 Artists' Fund Prize for Motherhood; the 1979 NAD Gold Medal for Flower for Mother (see below); the 1978 Certificate of Merit for The Libby Dam Treaty Tower Sculpture; the 1980 Artists' Fund Prize for Aspiration; the 1983 NAD Gold Medal for Blithe Spirit; and the 1986 Agop Agopoff Award for Diana.
