Charles H. Woodbury (American, 1864-1940):
Woodbury was born in Lynn, Massachusetts July 14, 1864 the son
of Seth H. Woodbury and Mary Parker. He graduated from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology with an Engineering Degree with Honors,
1882-1886. He took a few Life Classes at the Boston Art Club,
1883. After marrying Susan Marcia Oakes (1865-1913) in 1890, the
couple went to study in Holland and then Paris, Charles at the
Academie Julian in Paris with Boulanger and Lefebvre and Marcia
at the Laxar’s School, 1890-1891. He was a member of the
Salmagundi Club (1899); an Associate (1906) and an Academician
(1907) at the National Academy of Design; Ogunquit Art Association;
Society of Water Color Painters; New York Water Color Club; Guild
of Boston Artists; Boston Society of Watercolor Painters. He won
awards at the Lynn Art Exhibition for Amateurs (1880); Boston
Art Club (1884, 1895); Atlanta Exposition (gold, 1895); Nashville,
Tennessee Centennial (1897), Mechanics’ Fair, Boston; Paris
Exposition (1900); Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo (1901); Worcester
Art Museum (1903,1907); St. Louis Exposition (1904); Carnegie
Institute (1905); Buenos Aires Exposition (1910); American Water
Color Society (1911); W.A. Clark Prize and Corcoran Medal (1914);
Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco (gold, 1915); Penn. Academy
of F.A. (gold, 1924); Brooklyn (1931); Palmer Marine Prize and
Ranger Fund Award, National Academy (1932); Noyes Prize, Society
of American Artists (1933). He is represented at the Gardner Museum;
Corcoran Gallery of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Herron Art
Institute; Boston Museum of Fine Arts; St. Louis Art Museum; Boston
Public Library; Berkshire Atheneum; Detroit Art Institute; Metropolitan
Museum of Art; Joslyn Art Museum; Worcester Art Museum; R.I. School
of Design; Telfair Academy, Savannah; Colby College; Wellesley
Colllege and in 100’s of other museums and institutions.
Woodbury was given over 60 one-man exhibitions, the first being
at the J. Eastman Chase Gallery, Boston (1887) and the last at
the Winchester Public Library, MA (1939). 18 Memorial Shows were
given (1940-41). In 1945 the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston held
a Retrospective Exhibition. In 1968, Adelson Galleries, Inc. (then
of Boston) and in 1978 Vose Galleries of Boston gave Retrospectives.
In 1988 M.I.T. gave a monumental Woodbury exhibition titled Earth,
Sea and Sky that traveled to museums through 1993. Woodbury taught
art at the Worcester Art Association (1895); Wellesley College
(1899-1906; 1913-1914); Dartmouth College; Pine Hill School (1907-1910);
Ogunquit summer art school (1898-1939); Director, Woodbury School,
Boston; Associate Professor, School of the Chicago Art Institute.
Author: The Art of Seeing (1925) and Painting and the Personal
Equation (1922). He was survived by his son David O. Woodbury
of California (b. 1896).
