William Woodward (artist)
| William Woodward | |
|---|---|
Self-portrait
|
|
| Born | May 1, 1859 Seekonk, Massachusetts |
| Died |
November 17, 1939 (aged 80) New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Biloxi, Mississippi |
| Education |
Rhode Island School of Design Massachusetts Art Normal School |
| Occupation | Painter, university professor |
| Employer | Tulane University |
William Woodward (May 1, 1859 – November 17, 1939) was a U.S. artist and educator, best known for his impressionist paintings of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States.
William Woodward was born on May 1, 1859 in Seekonk, Massachusetts. His younger brother Ellsworth Woodward also became a notable artist.
As a youth, he was accustomed to the rural landscape and the close proximity of family and relatives. His family was supportive of his interest in art, an interest he attributed to an uncle, his mother's brother, who had been killed in the American Civil War when he was a small child. In his biographical note, he wrote of his Uncle George, "unmarried and seems to be the first in the family to develop art tendencies, producing crayon portraits of family members including one of my mother, which had much to do in causing me to turn to art for a life work." His interest in art intensified after a visit to the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where he and his younger brother saw art exhibitions. After this exposure to fine art, he began an intense seven years of continuous art training. He undertook studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, newly established in response to the Philadelphia Exposition and based on the indivisible relationship of art to industry. In preparation for a teaching career, he also studied at the Massachusetts Art Normal School, where his interest in architecture began.
In 1884, William Preston Johnston (1831–1899) recruited him to teach fine arts, mechanical drawing, and architectural drawing at Tulane University. Woodward, who had taught at the School of Design while still a student, was also a student-teacher at the Art Normal School, a position he resigned before departing for New Orleans. Continuing his studies by correspondence, he graduated in 1886. That year, he also extended his honeymoon through Scotland and England to include a three-month summer study at the Académie Julian in Paris. This sojourn provided a new direction for his artistic development, for there he saw Impressionist works, a style he soon adapted to his architectural scenes.
...
Wikipedia