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The American painter Richard Caton Woodville pursued his great passion, painting and drawing, at an early age. As the scion of a wealthy family, he was able to live out his talent without financial pressure. He could not let go of his passion even during his medical studies at the University of Maryland, which may well have led him to decide not to pursue his desired career as a doctor. Instead, at the age of 20, he went to Düsseldorf together with his wife Mary, whom he had married the year before. There he first attended the art academy, but - he could afford it - soon took private lessons with Karl Ferdinand Sohn. His opulent works, in which he took up themes from ancient mythology, were already very popular during his lifetime and later he was appointed director of the Düsseldorf Art Academy.
The world of antiquity, however, was less to Woodville's taste. He was much more attracted to the caricature painting Johann Peter Hasenclevers, with which he had become famous during his time in Düsseldorf. Hasenclever is considered one of the most important German painters of the 19th century and co-founder of socio-critical genre painting, whose famous representatives include Carl Spitzweg and Wilhelm Busch. From then on, this kind of ironically viewed snapshot became the subject of Woodville's work. His pictures reflect especially the world of the petty bourgeoisie in the Biedermeier era, which many artists liked to depict satirically and with a slight wink.
In Sohn's studio in the late 1840s, Woodville had met the Düsseldorf architect's daughter Antoinette Marie Schnitzler, who, like him, was an enthusiastic painter. Because of her, his wife left him and went back to America with their three children. A few years later Richard Caton Woodville married his lover Antoinette, with whom he had a daughter. In the following years the artist couple traveled together through Paris and England. Like his life, Woodville's death was marked by passion and wildness - he died at the age of 30 from a morphine overdose.
His son Richard Caton Woodville junior, who also studied in Düsseldorf, became almost even better known. However, he went his own artistic way and made a name for himself as a battle painter.
The American painter Richard Caton Woodville pursued his great passion, painting and drawing, at an early age. As the scion of a wealthy family, he was able to live out his talent without financial pressure. He could not let go of his passion even during his medical studies at the University of Maryland, which may well have led him to decide not to pursue his desired career as a doctor. Instead, at the age of 20, he went to Düsseldorf together with his wife Mary, whom he had married the year before. There he first attended the art academy, but - he could afford it - soon took private lessons with Karl Ferdinand Sohn. His opulent works, in which he took up themes from ancient mythology, were already very popular during his lifetime and later he was appointed director of the Düsseldorf Art Academy.
The world of antiquity, however, was less to Woodville's taste. He was much more attracted to the caricature painting Johann Peter Hasenclevers, with which he had become famous during his time in Düsseldorf. Hasenclever is considered one of the most important German painters of the 19th century and co-founder of socio-critical genre painting, whose famous representatives include Carl Spitzweg and Wilhelm Busch. From then on, this kind of ironically viewed snapshot became the subject of Woodville's work. His pictures reflect especially the world of the petty bourgeoisie in the Biedermeier era, which many artists liked to depict satirically and with a slight wink.
In Sohn's studio in the late 1840s, Woodville had met the Düsseldorf architect's daughter Antoinette Marie Schnitzler, who, like him, was an enthusiastic painter. Because of her, his wife left him and went back to America with their three children. A few years later Richard Caton Woodville married his lover Antoinette, with whom he had a daughter. In the following years the artist couple traveled together through Paris and England. Like his life, Woodville's death was marked by passion and wildness - he died at the age of 30 from a morphine overdose.
His son Richard Caton Woodville junior, who also studied in Düsseldorf, became almost even better known. However, he went his own artistic way and made a name for himself as a battle painter.