Skip to main contentBiographyWorthington Whittredge (1820–1910) is known for his careful, often melancholic renderings of American landscape scenes that speak to the social and cultural sentiments of the mid-nineteenth century. Whittredge’s mastery lies in his ability to combine the rigid empiricism of the Düsseldorf style with a sensitive treatment of American subjects.
Whittredge was born on a family farm in Springfield, Ohio. His father, who had been a ship captain before moving the family west, disapproved of the young Whittredge’s desire to pursue art. Nevertheless, Whittredge was able to learn painting techniques through house and sign painting and the production of daguerreotypes for local patrons. While these trades provided him with the basic skills needed as an artist, he was primarily self-taught. He enjoyed early success in Cincinnati as a landscape painter before moving to Europe in 1849 to improve his craft. He remained in Europe for ten years where he recorded the landscapes of England, France, Italy, and Germany. While abroad, Whittredge studied with Emanuel Leutze at the Düsseldorf academy, a popular institution for American artists. Leutze and Whittredge developed a lasting friendship; it is Whittredge who was used as a model for the figure of General Washington in Leutze’s 1851 masterpiece, Washington Crossing the Delaware at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Leutze painted several subsequent portraits of his friend throughout his life, including Worthington Whittredge in his Tenth Street Studio in the collection of Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
In addition to his closeness to Leutze, Whittredge developed professional and friendly relationships with other important figures in the nineteenth-century art and literary world including Sanford Gifford, Eastman Johnson, Jervis McEntee, and William Cullen Bryant. Whittredge’s work was admired by period critics including the artist Asher B. Durand. Upon his return to the United States in 1859, Whittredge experienced internal anxieties. He expressed in his autobiography that he felt pressure to create a new style of American landscape painting, but his long absence from his native land posed difficulties for the artist who had grown accustomed to German scenery. [1] Adding to this struggle was the increasing political tension in the country; in his autobiography Whittredge describes his attempt to enlist in the Union army when war broke out, but he was never engaged directly in conflict. Instead he supported the Union cause through his involvement in exhibitions and fundraising fairs, although he admitted, “The Civil War had disturbed many things, but strange to say, it had less effect upon art than upon many things with more stable foundations.” [2]
Despite his challenges, Whittredge found quick success as a Hudson River School artist in New York, and eventually served as President of the National Academy of Design, 1874–1875. He maintained a studio in the prestigious Tenth Street Studio building. During his lifetime, he made three trips west and two to Mexico; however, he is best known for his eastern landscapes and domestic interior scenes. Despite changes in taste, Whittredge’s painting remained a lifelong pursuit. The last years of his life were spent in rural New Jersey where he died in 1910 at 90 years of age.
Notes:
[1] Worthington Whittredge, “The Autobiography of Worthington Whittredge 1820–1910,” John I. H. Baur, ed., reprint Brooklyn Museum Journal, 1942, 63.
[2] Whittredge, “The Autobiography,” 43.
Worthington Whittredge
1820 - 1910
Whittredge was born on a family farm in Springfield, Ohio. His father, who had been a ship captain before moving the family west, disapproved of the young Whittredge’s desire to pursue art. Nevertheless, Whittredge was able to learn painting techniques through house and sign painting and the production of daguerreotypes for local patrons. While these trades provided him with the basic skills needed as an artist, he was primarily self-taught. He enjoyed early success in Cincinnati as a landscape painter before moving to Europe in 1849 to improve his craft. He remained in Europe for ten years where he recorded the landscapes of England, France, Italy, and Germany. While abroad, Whittredge studied with Emanuel Leutze at the Düsseldorf academy, a popular institution for American artists. Leutze and Whittredge developed a lasting friendship; it is Whittredge who was used as a model for the figure of General Washington in Leutze’s 1851 masterpiece, Washington Crossing the Delaware at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Leutze painted several subsequent portraits of his friend throughout his life, including Worthington Whittredge in his Tenth Street Studio in the collection of Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
In addition to his closeness to Leutze, Whittredge developed professional and friendly relationships with other important figures in the nineteenth-century art and literary world including Sanford Gifford, Eastman Johnson, Jervis McEntee, and William Cullen Bryant. Whittredge’s work was admired by period critics including the artist Asher B. Durand. Upon his return to the United States in 1859, Whittredge experienced internal anxieties. He expressed in his autobiography that he felt pressure to create a new style of American landscape painting, but his long absence from his native land posed difficulties for the artist who had grown accustomed to German scenery. [1] Adding to this struggle was the increasing political tension in the country; in his autobiography Whittredge describes his attempt to enlist in the Union army when war broke out, but he was never engaged directly in conflict. Instead he supported the Union cause through his involvement in exhibitions and fundraising fairs, although he admitted, “The Civil War had disturbed many things, but strange to say, it had less effect upon art than upon many things with more stable foundations.” [2]
Despite his challenges, Whittredge found quick success as a Hudson River School artist in New York, and eventually served as President of the National Academy of Design, 1874–1875. He maintained a studio in the prestigious Tenth Street Studio building. During his lifetime, he made three trips west and two to Mexico; however, he is best known for his eastern landscapes and domestic interior scenes. Despite changes in taste, Whittredge’s painting remained a lifelong pursuit. The last years of his life were spent in rural New Jersey where he died in 1910 at 90 years of age.
Notes:
[1] Worthington Whittredge, “The Autobiography of Worthington Whittredge 1820–1910,” John I. H. Baur, ed., reprint Brooklyn Museum Journal, 1942, 63.
[2] Whittredge, “The Autobiography,” 43.
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