Montpelier's Treasures: The Legacy of Thomas Waterman Wood
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Timeline
A Brief Look at the Life of Thomas Waterman Wood
1823: November 12, Thomas Waterman Wood is born in Montpelier.
1840s: First introduction to the visual arts are based principally from instruction books on art. Sketches Vermont landscapes and studies in Boston with portrait painter Chester Harding.
1850: Marries Minerva (Minnie) Robinson of Waterbury, Vermont, and begins building Athenwood in Montpelier where he would spend summers for much of his life.
1852-1855: Settles on portrait painting as his principle source of income. Takes up residence in New York City which allows him to study the art of his contemporaries both European and American.
1855: Travels to Quebec City, Toronto and Kingston, Ontario securing portrait commissions.
1856: Travels to Washington D.C. to obtain portrait commissions.
1857-58: Moves to Baltimore, Maryland, secures portrait commissions.
1858: Submits his first genre study to the exhibition of the National Academy of Design . It was a painting of a Black Baltimore news vendor, “Moses.”
1858-1859: Leaves on his first trip to Europe and establishes a studio in Paris. Copies old masters’ paintings in the Louvre, creates genre works for American patrons, and travels to Versailles, Genoa, Rome, Florence, Milan and Switzerland before returning home.
1859-1862: Moves to Nashville, Tennessee, and secures portrait commissions.
1860: Travels to Florence, Alabama to render seven portraits in one month, then to Minnesota spending several days sketching Sioux Indians.
1861: Paints “Cornfield.” Civil War begins.
1862: When Federal troops make entry into Nashville, Wood sketches fortifications and their gunboat.
1863-1866: Moves to Louisville, Kentucky, and secures portrait commissions. Creates a series of three paintings dedicated to the Black man’s participation in the Civil War entitled “War Episodes.”
1865: Civil War ends.
1866: Permanently settles in NYC as he believes he can make his principle source of income from genre paintings. Continues with portrait commissions.
1869: Elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design.
1871: Elected an Academician of the National Academy of Design.
1878-1887: Serves as President of the American Water Color Society.
1879-1891: Serves as Vice President of the National Academy of Design.
1889: Minerva (Minnie) dies in New York and is buried in Montpelier.
1891-1899: Serves as President of the National Academy of Design.
1894: The idea of an Art Gallery in Montpelier begins to take shape. Travels to London and Holland and Paris to copy old masters’ paintings for the new Gallery and as a source of income.
1895: August 8, Wood creates the Gallery with a deed of gift in trust of forty-two paintings, watercolors and etchings for the city of Montpelier. It is housed in the Vermont Mutual Insurance Company.
1896: Travels to Paris, London, St. Petersburg to copy old masters, especially Rembrandt, for the Gallery. Wood’s friend Professor John W. Burgess buys property on State Street for the home of the new Gallery.
1897: July 27, opening reception for the Gallery in the new building that also houses the YMCA and the Montpelier Public Library Association.
1898: Travels to London, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Rome, Brussels and Amsterdam to copy more old masters.
1900: Last trip to Europe: Berlin, Dresden, Switzerland, Florence, Naples, Madrid and Seville to copy old masters.
1903: April 14, Wood dies in New York. The funeral is held in the Gallery in Montpelier. He is buried in Green Mount Cemetery.
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T. W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center
36 College Street
College Hall
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
(802) 828-8743
info@twwoodgallery.org
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Hours
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Tues-Sun, 12 - 4 pm
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