Art

Oyster Wharf-Biloxi, Mississippi, 1925, 1925
William Woodward (1859-1939)

William Woodward is best known for his impressionistic paintings of the French Quarter in New Orleans and Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, like this view of an oyster wharf in Biloxi, with its dazzling display of light, color, and vernacular architecture.

Born in Seekonk, Massachusetts, Woodward studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Academie Julian in Paris. In 1884, he moved to New Orleans to teach art at Tulane University, and eventually founded the architecture school there. His brother Ellsworth, also an artist, joined him to found the Newcomb Art School. The Woodwards became important leaders of the city’s vibrant art scene for decades.

William painted this canvas soon after he moved to Biloxi in 1924, following a serious accident in 1921 that left him paralyzed, although he continued to travel, paint, and produce prints. Roberta Sokolitz

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