John Douglas Woodward
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| John Douglas Woodward |
| 1846-1924 |
| American Artist |
| Woodward was born in Middlesex County, Virginia and spent his childhood in Covington, Kentucky. By 1861, at the age of 15, he was a pupil of the German painter, Feodor Charles Welsch in Cincinnati. John travelled to New York City where he studied from 1863-65 at the Cooper Union art school and National Academy of Design. He exhibited his first painting at the Academy in 1867. Initially, he tried to earn a living as a landscape artist, taking his inspiration from the countryside of Virginia, however he found it impossible to earn a living from fine art alone and was drawn to book illustration. In 1871, he received his first commission. Woodward was then employed by the newly-established "Art Journal" From 1874-5, he was commissioned to produce a series of views of the Hudson River and travelled west on the Transcontinental railroad to San Francisco drawing scenes that he encountered along the way. In 1875, Woodward married Maria Louise Simmons. In that year he also produced illustrations for "A Century After: Picturesque Glimpses of Philadelphia". In 1876 he was asked by his publisher to assist Harry Fenn in preparing pictures for a major new work called "Picturesque Europe". The project took him to England, Europe, Russia and Scandinavia. For periods between 1877-79 he travelled to the Middle East, with Harry Fenn, working on drawings and watercolours for "Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt". In 1879, he returned to New York and spent much of the next three years working further on the illustrations for "Picturesque Palestine". From 1882 he provided illustration for Century Magazine and several books of poetry, and was now able to devote more time to painting landscapes in oils and watercolors. In 1883 he decided to move to France, with his wife, to further his landscape painting, settling for a short time in Paris, then at Pont-Aven, in Brittany, popular amongst artists, where he remained for a year. They returned to New York in 1884 and Woodward continued over the coming years to paint pictures and provide illustrations for books. In 1895, a large inheritance after the death of his father gave him the freedom to concentrate wholly on painting. Between 1898-1901, Woodward and his wife travelled to Italy, Switzerland and Capri. In 1905, they settled in New Rochelle, New York, where he continued to paint until his death in 1924.
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Paintings by John Douglas Woodward
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