William Woodward (artist)
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William Woodward (May 1, 1859 – November 17, 1939) was a U.S. artist and educator, best known for his
impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
paintings of
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; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
and the
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.


Biography


Early life

William Woodward was born on May 1, 1859 in
Seekonk, Massachusetts Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 15,531 at the 2020 census. Until 1862, the town o ...
.Biloxi Historical Society: William Woodward
/ref>The Historic New Orleans Collection: William Woodward
/ref> His younger brother
Ellsworth Woodward Ellsworth Woodward (1861–1939) was an American artist and art educator. During the late 19th century in New Orleans, Ellsworth and his older brother William Woodward were two of the most influential figures in Southern art. Ellsworth was born 1 ...
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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
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 The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
, 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.


Career

In 1884,
William Preston Johnston William Preston Johnston (January 5, 1831 – July 16, 1899) was a lawyer, scholar, poet, and Confederate soldier. He was the son and biographer of Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was a president of Louisiana State University and ...
(1831–1899) recruited him to teach fine arts, mechanical drawing, and architectural drawing at
Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
. 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 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 Paris. This sojourn provided a new direction for his artistic development, for there he saw
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
works, a style he soon adapted to his architectural scenes. His impression of the multicultural Vieux Carré in a crescent of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
provided lifelong artistic inspiration. Unlike the wide-open spaces of his youth, the Quarter was crowded with European-style residences alongside docks, open air markets, dry goods stores, and hardware stores, all located in the shadow of St. Louis Cathedral on the city's main square. His impressionistic views of the Vieux Carré were paramount in focusing attention on the historical structures, many of which were being recklessly destroyed. In 1895, he was in the forefront of the movement against the demolition of
The Cabildo The Cabildo was the seat of Spanish colonial city hall of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is now the Louisiana State Museum Cabildo. It is located along Jackson Square, adjacent to St. Louis Cathedral. History The original Cabildo was destroyed ...
, the seat of government during the Spanish Colonial period, rebuilt after the 1794 fire and one of the few surviving structures of the colonial era. This battle for historic preservation in the French Quarter ultimately led to the establishment of the Vieux Carré Commission. He was the first artist to focus intensely on the Vieux Carré "before it was fashionable," documenting the city's rich cultural heritage in vignettes of daily lifeÑstreet cleaners, milkmaids driving
drayage Drayage is the transport of goods over a short distance in the shipping and logistics industries. Drayage is often part of a longer overall move, such as from a ship to a warehouse. Some research defines it specifically as "a truck pickup from ...
carts, women at market, and residents otherwise engaged in their daily routines. These scenes have been said to "rank as his best of the urban fabric of New Orleans." He assimilated Impressionist tenets with his own style and ultimately developed a manner of artistic rendering suitable for capturing the soft light, moisture, and romantic essence of the French Quarter. His palette lightened and the contours of figures and architecture softened. His figures, which are imbued with a sense of immediacy, enliven his architectural scenes. He was active in every facet of architecture, including planning for Tulane's new buildings and the disposition of interior rooms and studios. Upon the organization of the College of Technology, Woodward was appointed Professor of Drawing and Architecture, and worked incessantly toward the establishment of a school of architecture, "to introduce in this region an awareness of professional values in design, and especially to provide exercises in the skills of mechanical, freehand and architectural drawing." Woodward's goal was ultimately achieved in 1907 when Tulane formally established the School of Architecture.Tulane School of Architecture: History
/ref> Additionally, he chaired the Art Committee of the Artists' Association of New Orleans, and thus spoke with the authority of both positions. Allison Owen, Woodward's former student who continued architectural studies in Boston, supported passage of a city ordinance to establish the Cabildo as a museum. With this successful movement, Woodward's preservationist activities began, as did the preservationist movement in the Vieux Carré. As Woodward, who reportedly "set up on street corners or mid-street," documented the historic quarter, his awareness of historic preservation increased accordingly. His observance of the ambiance of the Quarter is manifest in his earliest works, particularly an 1891
gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache h ...
and watercolor painting, French Quarter Market. His concern for architectural preservation is also evident in the appearance of Jackson Square in his view of the Cabildo from St. Peter Street. One sees beyond the arches of the loggia into the greenery of the Square, the equestrian statue of
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, to the lower Pontalba Building and an outbuilding that no longer exists. Woodward printed the name of the Cabildo in block letters to underscore the historical importance of the structure, a device he used in another image of the Cabildo's gate.


Later career

Among his students were the most respected practicing architects of the day: Richard Koch,
Ernest Lee Jahncke Ernest Lee Jahncke (October 13, 1877 – November 16, 1960) was United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1929 to 1933. He was the first, and until the 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal the only person ever to have been expelled from t ...
, Edgar Stone, and
Emile Weil Emile Weil (January 20, 1878 – January 19, 1945) was a noted architect of New Orleans, Louisiana. He studied with New Orleans artist William Woodward. A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Works i ...
, as well as Charles Bein, Frederick Duncan "Fritz" Parham, and Alvin Callender, the latter two who assisted Woodward in documenting the features and dimensions of the St. Louis Hotel while it was being demolished in 1917. Callender, after whom Alvin A. Callender Air Field was named, was killed in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Woodward painted the young aviator's portrait posthumously, using photographs and including the airplane in which Callender crashed, with its propeller serving to mark his grave. In his retirement, he continued his preservationist activities. His discovery of a plastic plate, Fiberloid, as a matrix for printmaking suited his soft-focused street scenes. Within five years he executed 115 etchings, which were then printed by his brother, Ellsworth. In 1938, he published French Quarter Etchings, reproducing fifty-four architectural views with annotations regarding history, renovation, and destruction of the structures. Many of his paintings, drawings, and etchings record historic landmarks that were no longer standing at the time of the publication. Another of Woodward's legacies comes through the 1964 posthumous publication of a small guide book, Early Views of the Vieux Carré A Guide to the French Quarter, which illustrates thirty-three of his architectural drawings and etchings. This spiral-bound guidebook, which sold out before it was released, ultimately sold over thirty thousand copies.


Personal life

In 1886, he married Louise Amelia Giesen (1862-1937) of
Kenner, Louisiana Kenner (historically french: Cannes-Brûlées) is a city in Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish, and is the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,448 at the 2020 census. History ...
. They had four children: *Alma Louise Woodward (1887-1939+). She married William Bainbridge Logan. *Eleanor Woodward (1889-1939+). She married Clarence Blosser and later George C. Moseley. *William Giesen Woodward (1892-1939+). *Carl Ellsworth Woodward (1894-1972). He married Mollie Holland (1894-1967). While painting a mural for the United Fruit Company in New Orleans in 1921, Woodward fell off a scaffold and injured his spine, resulting in permanent paralysis of the legs. Woodward and his wife retired to
Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
in 1923. Though confined to a wheelchair, Woodward remained active, and his retirement years were filled with prolific artwork, travel around the United States in a specially-equipped automobile, and his work as founder of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Art Association. He died at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans on November 17, 1939.


Secondary source

*Hinckley, Robert. ''William Woodward: American Impressionist'', Jackson, Mississippi:
University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi, founded in 1970, is a publisher that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi. Universities * Alcorn State University *Delta State University *Jackson State University *Mississippi State U ...
, 2009.University Press of Mississippi webpage
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, William 1859 births 1939 deaths People from Seekonk, Massachusetts Artists from New Orleans People from Biloxi, Mississippi Rhode Island School of Design alumni Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni American Impressionist painters Tulane University faculty 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists Historical preservationists