![Portrait of Dewing Woodward](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Portrait_of_Dewing_Woodward.jpg)
Martha Dewing Woodward (1856–1950) was an American artist and art teacher. According to her obituary in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', she was "one of the nation's leading painters." Among her accomplishments, she founded the first art school in
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
, in 1896. In 1907, Woodward and her partner, Louise Johnson, founded the Blue Dome Fellowship in
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...
, which Woodward continued in Florida after her move there. Woodward's art and teachings thrived in Florida, where her work had a lasting impact.
Woodward studied at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...](_blank)
and the
Academie Julian
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
in Paris. In addition to teaching at her summer art schools, Woodward taught art at the Female Institute in
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Lewisburg is a borough in Union County, Pennsylvania, United States, south by southeast of Williamsport and north of Harrisburg. In the past, it was the commercial center for a fertile grain and general farming region. The population was 5,1 ...
(which later became a part of
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
), the Women’s College of Baltimore (later
Goucher College
Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...
in
Towson, Maryland
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...
), the
Ethical Culture School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facul ...
in New York City, and the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248.
Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
. Woodward was active in the art world through painting and volunteering until her death in 1950.
Early life and education
Woodward was born on June 6, 1856, in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popula ...
. She was the youngest of the eight children of John Vanderbilt Woodward and Wealthy Ann York Woodward.
Her grandfather, Apollos Woodward, served as an aide to
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
during the
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...
.
Their home, called Springside, located at 721 Fifth Avenue, Williamsport, was originally a log house before being enlarged in 1845. The Woodwards added a studio above the kitchen of the Southern style home for Woodward to use as a studio.
Woodward researcher, Ralph Rees, believes that the young Woodward taught art lessons from this home studio.
Career
Woodward began painting at a young age. A portrait she painted of her father when she was 11 years old was praised for its skillful and mature style.
Woodward attended the Hattie Hall Seminary for Young Ladies in Williamsport. She later attended the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...
in Philadelphia, and the
Academie Julian
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
with Robert Fleury, Jacques Blanche, and
Jean Francois Raffaelli
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* ...
.
At age 26, Woodward was appointed art professor at the Female Institute of the University of Lewisburg (which later became part of
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
).
As the only art professor at the Female Institute, she taught 28-35 students in classes ranging from drawing to inks to china decoration to tapestry.
In 1889, she became head of the art department at the Women’s College of Baltimore (later
Goucher College
Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...
) and served as principal of Goucher’s School of Art from 1891-92.
Branching beyond teaching art, Woodward was also a member of the Baltimore’s Water-Color Club and
Charcoal Club of Baltimore
The Charcoal Club has been an arts club in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, on an intermittent basis since 1883.
History
Started as the Sketch Club in 1883 by a group of male artists in Baltimore who "desired to draw and paint from life" (meani ...
.
In the summer of 1896, after several years living and studying in France, Dewing Woodward established the Cape Cod School of Drawing and Painting in Provincetown, MA. The school is now recognized as the first art school in Provincetown, predating
Charles Hawthorne
Charles Webster Hawthorne (January 8, 1872 – November 29, 1930) was an American portrait and genre painter and a noted teacher who founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899.
He was born in Lodi, Illinois, and his parents returned to Main ...
’s
Cape Cod School of Art
The Cape Cod School of Art, also known as Hawthorne School of Art, was the first outdoor school of figure painting in America; it was started by Charles Webster Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located ...
, founded 1899. The first students were from Felix Adler’s
Ethical Culture School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facul ...
in New York City, where Woodward was head of the art department. Among those students that first year was Norwegian-born artist,
Jonas Lie (1880-1940).
Woodward shared her home and studio in Provincetown with Laura Louise Johnson. The two women lived and worked together until the 1920s according to various census records, city directories, and other sources. Laura Louise Johnson was one of six daughters of Henry and Margaret Johnson, who lived at 901 West 4th St.,
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popula ...
.
Woodward and Johnson had several cottages in Provincetown, the "Pungo,” “Willows,” and “Kedge.” Built on a high dune at 1 Commercial Street, the “Pungo” burned to the ground in 1907, destroying paintings, lectures, and $3,000 worth of antiques. Some artworks painted by Woodward in Provincetown were “Clam Diggers Coming Home – Cape Cod,” “Old Maids Pink – Cape Cod,” “Wren Tower,” “Provincetown,” and “Flowers.”
Woodward published a number of short stories about her time in Provincetown, ''Some Adventures of Two Vagabonds, by One of ‘Em'', under the pseudonym, Wealthy Ann York (her mother’s maiden name).
Woodward went to Paris again in 1892, living there intermittently for eleven years. She described these years as the happiest time of her life.
She maintained a studio called ''Rue Fromentin'', exhibited in the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
ten times, and was assistant critic at
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...
. In 1894, she won the prestigious Grand Prix de Concours de Portrait at the Marseilles International Exposition for her portrait of an elderly woman. This portrait was displayed in the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
, and is believed to have been destroyed in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
She also won the silver medal in
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
in 1904.
In Europe, Woodward faced discrimination because of her gender, prompting her to drop “Martha” from her name and to use her more androgynous middle name “Dewing.”
She was forced to withdraw a painting, ''Wooden Shoemakers'', from the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
when Jule La Febre told the jury members that the painter was a woman,” and “who knows who might have helped her!”
Returning permanently to America in 1907, Woodward and Johnson established the artist colony, the Blue Dome Fellowship, in Shady-in-the-Catskills where they taught for ten years.
Likely branching from Woodward’s strong religious faith, the colony’s name comes from Woodward’s favorite slogan: Worship God under the blue dome of heaven.
The colony was located near the Brydcliffe Art Colony in
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...
. The Blue Dome Fellowship followed the popular French style of painting where artists posed living nude models in the open air.
The Fellowship members consisted mainly of women and included many famous people in the arts, including Woodward’s good friend,
Poultney Bigelow
Poultney Bigelow (10 September 1855 – 28 May 1954) was an American journalist and author.Bigelow, Patricia, ''The Bigelow Family Genealogy'', the Bigelow Society, Flint, Michigan, 1986, vol II, p. 492; #16312.744.
He was born in New York City, ...
.
The James Cox Gallery in Willow, New York, held a festival in 2006, recreating the painting technique that produced ninety paintings.
In 1908, Woodward wrote and published ''Some Adventures of Two Vagabonds: By One of ‘Em'', a series of short stories about her and Johnson, under the pseudonym Wealthy Ann York, her mother’s maiden name.
She also wrote ''The Mass of the Shepherds of Provence'', a short story published in 1911 by
Hervey White
Hervey White (1866–1944) was an American novelist, poet, and community-builder. He was one of the original founders of the Byrdcliffe Colony in Woodstock, New York, then went on to create a more radical artists' colony, the Maverick. Both Byrdc ...
's Maverick Press.
The Blue Dome Fraternity studio, appropriately called “Red Roof” for its red tiled roof, burned down in 1912, pushing Woodward into financial troubles. Throughout the rest of her life, Woodward struggled financially.
After the loss of her Woodstock studio, Woodward spent the rest of her life in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248.
Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
. Inspired by the rich foliage and brightly colored birds, Woodward and Johnson would travel by
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
to the
Everglades
The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...
to paint the wildlife.
When the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
opened in 1926, Woodward was horrified to learn that no art curriculum was offered. She began teaching art classes for free through the new university’s Conservatory of Music.
She eventually received a salary. The Conservatory closed in 1928, unable to pay the academic staff. For years afterward, Woodward wrote letters to the university president, begging for some reimbursement as her financial support had disappeared.
Well into her eighties, Woodward was active in the arts in Florida, volunteering at local arts and crafts centers, painting, and writing articles (none of which survived). In Coral Gables, Woodward was a charter member of the local
Christian Science
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...
Church; an instigator in establishing the Blue Dome Fellowship, one of the longest existing art clubs in Florida; founder of Tropical League of Fine Arts, which organized artists’ costume balls to raise funds for a permanent fine art institute; president of the Florida Federation of Art; director of the Index of American Design and the Florida Society of Arts and Science; and supporter of the Community Art Center and Roundtable of Southern Florida.
Woodward was also the author of Colour, an art magazine, in which she discussed her color theories. She was interested in the “echo” theory, a phenomenon of the
afterimages
AfterImage is a Filipino rock band formed in 1986, best known for their songs "Habang May Buhay", "Next in Line", and "Mangarap Ka". They disbanded in 1997 and became active again in 2008 after they reunited and released their fourth studio album ...
of color; for example, when a red object is held against a white background, then pulled away, the afterimage is green. She felt that this reality condoned any adjustment in such color codes.
In the 1930s, Woodward was hired by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
to paint murals in public buildings to bring culture to the public. They also commissioned her to paint miniatures of historic antiques.
Two of her Florida bird studies, Flamingoes and Great Blue Herons, were chosen by
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
to hang in the
Sub-Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.
Woodward’s Golden Warblers painting was hung in the
Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel
The Miami Biltmore Hotel (commonly called The Biltmore Hotel or The Biltmore) is a luxury hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. The hotel was designed by Schultze and Weaver and was built in 1926 by John McEntee Bowman and George Merrick as part of the ...
when it opened in 1926, and the Miami Woman’s Club also housed her ''Morning Song of the Pines'' artwork.
Death and legacy
Woodward, "one of the nation’s leading painters" died on July 12, 1950, after a brief illness at the age of 94.
The ''New York Times'' obituary mentions that she was survived by a grandnephew, Charles V. Woodward of
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
. Her cremated remains were buried in the family plot at Wildwood Cemetery in Williamsport.
In 1991,
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
Association for the Arts honored Woodward with the Academy of Artistic Achievement
award.
Her paintings can be found at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
's Lowe Art Museum
Woodstock Art Association and Museum the Bigelow Homestead Collection, the Deschanel Collection in Paris, the
Provincetown Art Association and Museum
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) is located at 460 Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is the most attended art museum on Cape Cod. The museum's permanent coll ...
, and in private collections, including that of Dr. Alfred Frankel.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Martha Denning
1856 births
1950 deaths
19th-century American painters
20th-century American painters
20th-century American women artists
19th-century American women
Artists from Miami
Painters from Pennsylvania
People from Williamsport, Pennsylvania
University of Miami faculty