William Woodward (American, 1859 to 1939)
William Woodward was born in Seekonk, Massachusetts and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. He taught art at Tulane University and Newcomb College in New Orleans, Louisiana and developed a life-long love of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. His passion for documenting the historic architecture of New Orleans helped fuel a preservation movement that thrives in the city to this day. Aside from New Orleans cityscapes, Woodward also painted landscapes, Mississippi riverscapes and other rural scenes around the area. His architectural renderings and Impressionist-style paintings of the region are highly regarded by collectors, historians and institutions alike.
Information courtesy of Charlton Hall Galleries, Inc., June 2012.
Woodward studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston, and the Academie Julian with Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. He moved to New Orleans in 1876 and taught at Tulane University and Newcomb College until his retirement in 1922. He became well known for his impressionist paintings of the French Quarter in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. He was active in New Orleans from 1885 to 1923, and Biloxi, Mississippi, from 1924 to 1939. Woodward also painted scenic landscapes when he traveled to Canada, Hawaii and throughout the American West.
William Woodward paintings of the French Quarter reflect his roles as founder of Tulane University’s architecture school and as an active historic preservationist. Woodward created lively colorful views of the historic buildings and vistas of the French Quarter.
As an artist, teacher and historic preservationist, William Woodward found the historic French Quarter to be an endless source of fascination. In the early 20th century, the Vieux Carre, as it was then known, showed signs of neglect and had suffered from haphazard and historically inaccurate renovations. Through the efforts of Elizabeth Werlein, William Radcliff Irby and Woodward, the Vieux Carre Commission was formed with the intention of preserving the buildings and ambiance of the historic district.
Information courtesy of Neal Auction Company, October 2008.