Medium/Discipline: Painting, Works on Paper
Birthplace: Baltimore
Place of Death: England
Maryland Affiliation: Born here, Depicts Maryland subjects, Active while in residence
Prominent Theme: Genre; Landscape; Marine
Active Dates and Place: Baltimore, 1836-45; Dusseldorf, Germany, 1845-51; France and England, 1851-5
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: Recognized as a natural artistic talent, Richard Caton Woodville was supported by his prosperous family in his endeavor to become an artist by trade. While a successful marine and landscape painter, some of Woodville's most delightful works are those that depict everyday, or 'genre', scenes of Baltimore's citizens.Woodville recorded his early life in Baltimore in the form of drawings, including those depicting his University of Maryland medical school faculty during 1842-3 when he studied medicine, as well as those of picturesque inmates of the poor house. While Woodville produced most of his work after leaving Baltimore in 1845 to travel widely in Germany, France and England, he hearkened back to his Baltimore experience throughout his life abroad for genre painting subject matter. He also returned to Baltimore for visits after his 1845 departure. Woodville's training is unconfirmed, but he may have been taught by a number of artists during his attendance at St. Mary's College in Maryland. His family's stature in the community likely afforded him the opportunity to visit private art collections of Baltimore collectors Thomas Edmondson and Robert Gilmor. Woodville became recognized nationally as one of a number of successful genre painters, including his contemporary, William Sidney Mount, who was perhaps the most popular, and whose work was also owned by Robert Gilmor. His genre paintings were very desirable among collectors both during and after his lifetime.
Education/Training: St. Mary's College, Maryland
Taught By: possibly Samuel Smith, an English artist, or Joseph Hewitt, both of whom taught drawing at St. Mary's College in the 1830s; possibly Alfred Jacob Miller
Selected References: Richard Caton Woodville, An Early American Genre Painter. (Washington, DC: The Corcoran Gallery of Art), 1967.
Pleasants, J. Hall. Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Painting in Maryland (Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art), 1945.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Maryland Historical Society; Walters Art Museum
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