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.
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.jpg "The Relief of the Light Brigade, 25th October 1854 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-73725).jpg "Napoleon I with his Old Guard at Waterloo, engraved by Jules Jacquet von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Captain Cook approaching New Zealand, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Battle of Quebec, 1759, illustration from")
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.jpg "Captain Cook Landing in Tasmania, 1777, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The Cavalier")
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.jpg "The Death of Henry Hotspur, 21st July 1403, Illustration from")
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.jpg "Charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Taking of Badajoz von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "A Cossack Station in Manchuria with Tribal Signs Over the Men")
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.jpg "The British in Ceylon, Illustration from")
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.jpg "Turkic-Bashkir Cossack archers harried and hounded the retreat of Napoleon")
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.jpg "Vespasian Rescued by His Son Titus, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The First Sino-Japanese War, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The Squire")
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.jpg "The Capture of Ping Yang, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Elevation of Edward the Elder at His Coronation at Kingston-on-Thames, Whitsunday von Richard Caton Woodville")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-279745).jpg "The Sailor")
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.jpg "Mahsameh, scene in the Egyptian War of 1882, engraved by W.J. Palmer von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Oration of Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, at the Coronation of John, Ascension Day, May 27th, 1199 (from")
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.jpg "The Battle of Malplaquet, c.1910 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The surrender of Rangoon to the British, 1824, illustration from")
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.jpg "British taking possession of Aden, illustration from")
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.jpg "Sir Eyre Coote at Cuddalore, illustration from")
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.jpg "In the Row, Hyde Park von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The fighting round Tientsin: Charge of the Japanese Cavalry, illustration from")
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.jpg "The British in Natal in 1824, Illustration from")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-377960).jpg "The Fencing Lesson, c.1847-49 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Visit of the Prince of Wales to India, 1876: The Prince")
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.jpg "The Battle of Colenso: The Loss of Our Guns (illustration from")
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.jpg "The Yeoman")
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.jpg "The surrender of Mauritius Isle to the British in 1810, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Last Shot in the Soudan, from")
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.jpg "Politics in an Oyster House von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Landing of the British Troops in Aboukir Bay, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The Unending March Eastwards: A Familiar Sight on the Way von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "All That Was Left of Them von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Bear baiting in Saxon times, from")
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.jpg "The Irish Land League Agitation: Scots Greys charging the mob at Limerick, illustration from")
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.jpg "Scene from the Battle of Haelen where the Belgian troops defeated the invaders von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Nawab")
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.jpg "Sir George Simpson in Vancouver Island, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Homage, the Largesse and the General Pardon at the Coronation of James I and Anne of Denmark, July 25th, 1603 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-155984).jpg "The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1895 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "A Cossack of the Line von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Cretan Rebellion Against the Turks, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Card Players von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Evening Fete for the Benefit of the London Hospitals - Music in the Gardens von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Field Artillery Coming into Action, Illustration from")
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.jpg "Admiral Togo in the Conning Tower of His Flagship, Directing a Naval Action von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Japanese Cavalry Encampment at Seoul: Farriers at Work von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Arrest of Japanese Spies Disguised as Coolies von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Waiting for the Stage von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Attack on Sir Ralph Abercrombie by the French Dragoons, illustration from")
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_Entry_into_Pretoria_on_5th_June_1900_-_(MeisterDrucke-317464).jpg "Lord Roberts")
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.jpg "Russian Cossack Artillery Engaging the Chinese Outside Peking, Illustration from")
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.jpg "A Bengal Lancer and his Boxer Captive, illustration from")
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.jpg "Candahar: The 92nd Highlanders and the 2nd Gurkhas Storming Gaudi Mullah Sahibdad, from")
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.jpg "The Battle of Alma von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Boxer Movement, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Seaforth Highlanders Storming the Zareba at the Battle of Atbara, Illustration from")
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.jpg "British Artillery Getting into Position at the Battle of Mons von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The cession of Hong Kong to the British, illustration from")
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.jpg "British Infantry Forcing Their Way Through German Wire Entanglements von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Clearing the kopjes at Rustenburg von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Scaling of the Heights of Abraham von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Battle of Blenheim: Storming the Village, c.1910 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Highlanders turning the captured French guns on Brenniers Battalions, illustration from")
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.jpg "Attack on the Railway by Chunchuses von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Last Shot at Colenso von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "British forces marching into Cape Town, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Anointing of Edward the Martyr at his Coronation by St. Dunstan at Kingston-on-Thames, from")
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.jpg "Peter the Great watching the procedure of the House of Lords von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Coronation Procession of Edward VI through London von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "A Line of Coldstream Guardsmen with Fixed Bayonets Advancing Under Fire Towards the Enemy, Battle of Alma, Crimean War, 1896 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "British troops entering Singapore, illustration from")
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.jpg "Waiting for the Stage von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Evening fete for the benefit of the London Hospitals - the Princess of Wales selling flowers von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Devil")
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.jpg "Old")
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.jpg "Edward the Confessor Crowned at Winchester, 1043, from")
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.jpg "The Gross of the Bulgarian Column Made a Dashing Assault Upon the Town, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The Battle of Towton in 1461, illustration from Hutchinsons")
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.jpg "The Cession of Hong Kong to the British in 1841 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Fire! von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Russo-Japanese War: a hand-to-hand struggle in the earthworks at Port Arthur von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Dampier Examining a Boomerang in Australia, c.1910 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Caught in barbed wire entanglements: Night attack by British infantry von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "At grips with the foe: House to house fighting at Ypres von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Before the Battle: A Russian Prayer for Success von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Waiting for the Stage von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Lord Kitchener")
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.jpg "The Battle of Salamanca, Illustration from")
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.jpg "Native Road Menders, from After Pretoria: The Guerilla War von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Convicts on Their Way to Botany Bay von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Surrender of Gibraltar von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "God Bless You Tommy Atkins von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "The Attack on the House of Sir Alexander Burnes von Richard Caton Woodville")
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.jpg "Mexican News von Alfred Jones")
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.jpg "Ramillies: Marlborough Leading the Cavalry into Action, c.1910 von Richard Caton Woodville")
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