The Seeing of the Thing: The Art and Teaching of Charles W oodbury & the Ogunquit Art Colony � � Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Charles Herbert Woodbury (1864-1940) Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Charles Herbert Woodbury (1864-1940) The Last Drift, 1909, 29” x 36” Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“It was live wires for him, � nothing less.” � � (- David O. Woodbury) Woodbury’s MIT graduation photographs, class of 1886 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
The Lynn Beach Painters In the wake of � “The Mandatory � Drawing Act” � of 1870 � � The Lynn Evening � Drawing School � � Begets � seven united � “Regional Impressionists” � ~ 1887 ~ Charles Woodbury, Saugus River , c. 1887, oil on canvas, 16 x 26 inches, Lynn Historical Society C.E.L. Green Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Roots in Realism Above : Paintings by Charles Woodbury, c. 1887 � Below : Paintings by Antoine Vollon, c. 1870 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Woodbury’s “Lynn Beach” Phase Charles Woodbury � North Shore scenery, c. 1888 � � Swampscott, Gloucester, Lynn, Marblehead, Revere.... Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Ogunquit in 1887 Maine Historical Society � � Bottom Right: � Perkins Cove � by Woodbury, 1887 Dories at Wharf Lane, off Shore Rd. Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Ogunquit, Maine by A. T. Bricher c. 1850 A fresh perspective: Charles H. Woodbury � & Alfred T. Bricher � (1837-1908)
A fresh perspective: Charles H. Woodbury � & Alfred T. Bricher � (1837-1908)
A fresh perspective: Charles H. Woodbury � & Alfred T. Bricher � (1837-1908)
Woodbury’s first view of Perkins Cove, 1887 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“Miss Oakes, I simply cannot teach you to paint.... � But will you mind - mind if I ask you to marry me?” (1890) M a r c i a O a k e s W o o d b u r y (1865 -1913) Moeder en Dochter: Het G e h e e l e Marcia and Charles Woodbury with son David, 1897 L e v e n (Mother and D a u g h t e r : The Whole of Life) , 1894 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Mid-Ocean, 1893-94 “.... the truth of nature intelligently and feelingly stated ... a fine hint of a fine thing, the vastness, power, beauty, and majesty of the ocean .... with such a green as no lapidary could ever match, and shading off into a blue and purple so deep and intense that it astonishes and enchants the observer.” - The Boston Transcript, Jan. 23, 1895 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
1898: Woodbury founds his summer � “Course of Instruction in Observation, Drawing & Painting” � Later renamed The Art of Seeing Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“Paint it the way it seems, not the way it looks.” Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“Paint it the way it seems, not the way it looks.” Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“Get the great things first.” Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“Paint in verbs, not in nouns.” Panels of the Sea #4, Porpoises Left: Phlox , 1903. Woodbury believed he had � the best view on all of Maine’s coast. Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“I enjoy anything which has the flavor of the salt � air in it.” Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Liberating the seascape & � “Suspending � the viewer in mid-air above the waves...” Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Assimilating traditional painting with the new discoveries of modern art Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“Woodbury developed a unique blend of Impressionism, oriental compositional motifs, � and the sensuous lines and jewel-like colors of the Art Nouveau.” � -Erica J. Hirschler Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Other Lights: � Robert Henri Above: Dories, Perkins Cove, c. 1910 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Other Lights: � George Bellows Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Woodbury Bellows Bellows Henri Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Other Lights: � Soren Emil Carlsen Above: Bald Head Cliff, Ogunquit, c. 1910-1915 � Left: The Meeting of the Two Seas, 1919 � Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Other Lights: � Edward Hopper Above: The Dories, Ogunquit, 1914; Top right: Sun at Ogunquit, 1914 � Bottom right: Square Rock, Ogunquit, 1914 Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
Memberships 100+ solo shows 1887 J. Eastman Chase Gallery, MA Boston Art Club 1902 Art Institute of Chicago, IL Guild of Boston Artists 1910 Cincinnati Art Museum, OH National Academy of Design 1910 City Art Museum of St. Louis, MO Ogunquit Art Association 1912 Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, NY Salmagundi Club 1913 Detroit Museum of Art, MI Society of American Artists 1925 Frederick Keppel & Co., NY Watercolor Club of Boston 1939 Winchester Public Library, MA 1940 Cleveland Museum of Art, OH 1945 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 1968 Adelson Galleries Inc., MA 1978 Vose Galleries of Boston, MA � 1988 MIT, Boston, MA Addison Gallery of American Art, MA Major � Art Institute of Chicago, IL Bowdoin College Museum of Art, ME Collections: Chrysler Museum of Art, VA Cleveland Museum of Art, OH Currier Gallery of Art, NH El Paso Museum of Art, TX Farnsworth Art Museum, ME Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, CA Harvard University Art Museums, MA Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, MA Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, VA Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA Portland Museum of Art, ME Rhode Island School of Design – Museum of Art, RI San Diego Museum of Art, CA Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
What Set Woodbury Apart Woodbury was trained as a mechanical engineer � (He saw & painted the world in motion, � in terms of “the conditions of force and resistance”) � � “The scientific spirit, that desire to see the springs which move facts, is in Mr. Woodbury’s blood.” � - Amy Lowell Woodbury painted “personally” � (He painted the way nature felt , not just what it looked like ) � � “... all visual impressions are a result partly of the physical conditions of Nature and partly of your own mentality.... � A picture is a personal reaction. We are seeing according as we are, and our facts vary with our perceptions.” � - Painting and the Personal Equation Woodbury was (rigorously) self-trained � (Free from the strictures of academic dogma, he put painting � at the service of his perceptions rather than the other way around) � � “Where other painters saw technique, Mr. Woodbury sees the why of technique.” � -Amy Lowell Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
“A picture is a thought or feeling expressed in terms of nature.” “We see according as we are, and our facts vary with our perceptions…. all visual impressions are a result, partly of the physical conditions of Nature and partly of your own mentality.” � � “Art is not based on the way things are, but upon things as you see and feel them. Realism is after all only what you think the thing may be.” � � “Skill is much more easily acquired if you have a use for it …. you must know what you see, why you see, and what is worth seeing.” � � - Charles H. Woodbury, Painting and the Personal Equation Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
What is a Work of Art? “A work of art is not a copy of things. It is inspired by nature but must not be a copying of the surface. Therefore what is commonly called “finish” may not be finish at all. You have to make your statement of what is is essential to you - an innate reality, not a surface reality. You handle surface appearances as compositional factors to express a reality that is beyond superficial appearances. you choose things seen and use them to phrase your statement... Painting is the study of our lives, our environment; it is the giving of evidence.” � � - Robert Henri, The Art Spirit Christopher V olpe www.christophervolpe.com
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