William de Leftwich Dodge

William de Leftwich Dodge (1867–1935) was an American artist best known for his murals, which were commissioned for both public and private buildings.

Dodge was born at Liberty, Virginia in the Piedmont near Lynchburg. In 1879, his mother, Mary de Leftwich Dodge, an aspiring artist, moved her family to Europe. After living initially in Munich they moved to Paris, where she worked on art. Dodge later followed her example and became an artist. He spent most of his childhood years in France, where his mother was working on art. He studied at the École des Beaux Arts and took first place in the examinations in 1881. He also studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme and with Raphaël Collin at the Académie Colarossi, and traveled to Munich for studies there.

Dodge received early commissions that gained him attention in the United States, first at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. He was living in Paris when he applied for commissions for mural works for the Library of Congress, which he completed in 1895. This work enabled him to marry Francesca (Fanny) Theodora Bland Pryor, daughter of Sara Agnes Rice Pryor and Roger Atkinson Pryor of Virginia and New York. Her mother was a civic activist and author who published several books in the early 1900s; her father was an attorney and became a justice on the New York State Supreme Court.

He died at his New York City home at 52 West 9th Street in Manhattan. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.

After he and his family settled in New York, Dodge taught at the Art Students League of New York and at Cooper Union.

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