Robert Wood (1889-1979) Woodland Landscape

Robert Wood (1889-1979) Woodland Landscape
Robert W. Wood (1889-1979) Oil on canvas depicting a woodland landscape with mountain and creek, Signed lower left, piece measures 30 x 44.5 and 34.5 x 48.5 inches w/frame. Robert W. Wood was born in Sandgate, England, near Dover, on the coast of Kent. His father, W. L. Wood, was a renowned home and church painter who recognized and supported his son's talent. He forced his son to paint by keeping him inside rather than letting him play with his friends. At age 12, Wood entered the South Kensington School of Art in nearby Folkestone. While in school, Wood won four first awards and three second awards for his paintings.After service in the Royal Army, Wood and his friend, Claude Waters, immigrated to America. Initially, they settled in Illinois and worked on a farm belonging to Water's uncle. Then Wood struck out on his own, living the life of a nomadic painter. He hopped freight trains, selling or bartering small paintings to support himself along the way.In 1912, Wood married Eyssel Del Wagoner. The couple moved to Ohio where their daughter, Florence, was born. Their son, John Robert Wood, was born in 1919. In the early 1920's, the family was constantly on the move. They stayed for short periods in Kansas, Missouri and California and in Portland, Oregon, where Waters had settled. Wood's endless wanderings disrupted his family life and delayed his development as a painter. In 1925, Wood divorced his first wife.Wood eventually put down roots in San Antonio, the largest city in Texas at the time. San Antonio was an ideal location for the young artist, with its variety of terrains to inspire a landscape painter. He studied briefly at the San Antonio Art School with Spanish colorist Jose Arpa and became familiar with the works of Texas painters Robert and Julian Onderdonk. In a short time, Wood established a reputation for charming scenes including the famous fields of bluebonnets and the red oaks found in central Texas. He often incorporated native stone barns and rough wood farmhouses that added authenticity and romance to his compositions. Wood’s years in Texas were quite fruitful. In San Antonio he met and married his second wife, Tula. In 1928, he exhibited in the Texas Wildflower Competition. He also gave art lessons, Porfirio Salinas being among his students. From 1924 to 1940 Robert Wood also signed his paintings G. Day (Good Day) and Trebor (Robert backwards). He only used these signatures during these years and there is conflicting information as to why. Wood’s style in the 1930s and 1940s was generally softer and more delicate, closer in style to the English landscape painters of the 19th century than to those of his American contemporaries.Although Wood painted extensively in the Colorado Rockies in the 1930s and 1940s, he did not paint the Tetons until the late 1950s. By the early 1960s, the Tetons and the California coast made up a significant percentage of his production. He never tired of sketching and many of his small works were plein-air sketches done on the spot. Wood often titled works with the location, date and time on the back. The time he spent outdoors infused his works with the quality of natural light that made them ring true to a wide audience. Wood continued to paint his popular Texas landscapes, but his style changed. Works from this period were more broadly painted with a more chromatic palette.After seventeen years in Texas, Wood moved to Laguna Beach, California where he joined an artist colony with some of the painters of the California Plein-Air School. In Laguna, he was recognized for his coastal landscapes and marine paintings. Later Wood moved east to the art colony of Woodstock, New York. There he painted high-key fall scenes of the forests aglow with bright oranges and reds. His scenes of Woodstock were soon acquired by print companies and reproduced in large quantities. The distribution of his work was so widespread that one of his dealers famously bragged about seeing a Robert Wood reproduction in the chief's hut in an African village. A reproduction of "October Morn" sold more than 1.25 million copies in less than two years.After a few years in New York, Robert and Tula moved back to Laguna Beach. These were tumultuous years for Wood. He and Tula divorced in 1952, and the following year, Wood was hit by a car on Pacific Coast Highway and nearly killed. Caryl Price, an amateur artist, helped him around during his recovery and the two were soon married. Wood trained Caryl in painting and took her on sketching trips. During the 1950s, reproductions of Wood's works became increasingly popular and the royalties made him a comfortable living. Through frequent exhibitions and steady print sales Wood's notoriety increased and he found it difficult to keep up with the demand for original works. His work began to take on a looser, more painterly quality.In the early 1960s, Wood and his wife moved to Bishop, California at the foot of the Sierras. By the mid-1960s, he was working with even broader brushwork and bolder colors. Wood moved to San Diego, where Caryl restored a Victorian house that they had purchased. After several years in San Diego, the Woods made their final move, back to Bishop. Robert Wood painted until shortly before his death in the spring of 1979, just weeks before his 90th birthday.Robert Wood presented a record of the unspoiled American landscape. His paintings are an invaluable documentation of the rapidly vanishing wilderness and pristine seashores. Most Americans remember Wood for his later, more impressionistic works, painted when he led the print market in sales, but many collectors still prefer his earlier works. Wood’s paintings can be found in the permanent collections of Stark Museum of Art, Kendall Art Gallery, Witte Museum, the Grace Museum, and the Martin Museum of Art at Baylor University.
Condition: The absence of a condition report does not imply an object is free of defects. All items may have normal signs of age and wear commensurate with their age; these issues will likely not be mentioned in the condition report. Please contact the auction house before the auction with any condition questions. Questions about condition will not be answered after purchase. Condition reports are provided as a courtesy, and we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.
Important note on frames: Frames are not guaranteed to be in the same condition as they are in the item photograph. Due to handling and shipping, many frames, especially antique ones, are prone to losses. If you have questions about the condition of a frame, please contact us prior to the auction.