William de Leftwich Dodge (March 8, 1867 – March 25, 1935) was an

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

n artist best known for his murals, which were commissioned for both public and private buildings.

Early life and education

Dodge was born at Liberty, Virginia in the Piedmont near Lynchburg. In 1879, his mother, Mary de Leftwich Dodge, an aspiring artist, moved her family to Europe. After living initially in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

they moved to Paris, where she worked on art. Dodge later followed her example and became an artist. He spent most of his childhood years in France, where his mother was working on art. He studied at the

École des Beaux Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

and took first place in the examinations in 1881. He also studied under

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

and with

Raphaël Collin Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (; 17 June 1850 – 21 October 1916) was a French painter born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and a teacher. He is principally known for the links he created between French and Ja ...

at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

, and traveled to Munich for studies there.

Career

Early commissions

Dodge received early commissions that gained him attention in the United States, first at the

Columbian Exposition of 1893 The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

in Chicago where his mural "Glorification of the Arts and Sciences" adorned the interior dome of the Administration Building. The exposition was held to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. He was living in Paris when he applied for commissions for mural works for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, which he completed in 1895.

New York City

After he and his family settled in New York, Dodge taught at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

. He became known as a muralist when the genre was at a peak of popularity, commissioned for major public buildings as well as hotels and mansions. Murals were seen as a kind of art that could reach directly to the people. Dodge drew on a variety of styles for his murals, settling on a heroic, neoclassical look. Achieving success with commissions for his murals, Dodge designed his family home in Setauket, Long Island, in 1906, the classical ''Villa Francesca,'' named after his wife. In his private work, Dodge's paintings show the influence of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

. Toward the end of his career, Dodge became interested in

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

art. His work is held in the permanent collections of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

and the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

Personal life

Dodge's completion of a series of murals for the

in 1895 enabled him to marry Francesca (Fanny) Theodora Bland Pryor, daughter of

Sara Agnes Rice Pryor Sara Agnes Rice Pryor, born Sara Agnes Rice (February 19, 1830 – February 15, 1912), was an American writer and community activist in New York City. Born and reared in Virginia, she moved north after the American Civil War with her husband and ...

and

Roger Atkinson Pryor Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and judge. A journalist and U.S. Congressman from Virginia known as a Southern "fire eater" for his fiery oratory in favor of slaver ...

of Virginia and New York. Her mother was a civic activist and author who published several books in the early 1900s; her father was an attorney and became a justice of the New York State Supreme Court. Dodge died at his Manhattan home on March 25, 1935. He is buried in

Woodlawn Cemetery Woodlawn Cemetery is the name of several cemeteries, including: Canada * Woodlawn Cemetery (Saskatoon) * Woodlawn Cemetery (Nova Scotia) United States ''(by state then city or town)'' * Woodlawn Cemetery (Ocala, Florida), where Isaac Rice and fa ...

in The

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City.

Murals

Dodge's important murals include: * Murals for the Administration Building dome, designed by

Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...

, at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. * Murals for the Thomas Jefferson Building,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, circa 1895. * ''History of Canada'' murals for the

King Edward Hotel The OMNI King Edward Hotel, also known as the "King Eddy", is a historic luxury hotel in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hotel is located at 37 King Street East, and it occupies the entire block bounded by King Street on the north, Vic ...

, Toronto, Ontario, the subject of a landmark artists' rights lawsuit, 1903. * Murals for the Onondaga County Court House,

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, 1904. * Four lobby murals for the

Astor Hotel Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family, the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway, Shubert Alley, and 44t ...

, depicting ''Ancient and Modern New York'', 1904. * Zodiac ceiling mosaic and other work, at the

Surrogate's Courthouse The Surrogate's Courthouse (also the Hall of Records and 31 Chambers Street) is a historic building at the northwest corner of Chambers Street (Manhattan), Chambers and Centre Street (Manhattan), Centre Streets in the Civic Center, Manhat ...

(aka Hall of Records), New York City, circa 1905. * Mural for the

Algonquin Hotel The Algonquin Hotel (officially The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection) is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwi ...

, New York, 1906. * Works for a number of New York hotels and theaters, including three murals and the color scheme for the

Fulton Theatre/Helen Hayes Theatre The Fulton Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 210 West 46th Street in Manhattan, New York City, that was opened in 1911. It was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1955. The theatre was demolished in 1982. After the former Little Theatre o ...

, architects

Herts & Tallant Henry Beaumont Herts (January 23, 1871 – March 27, 1933) was an American architect. Herts was born in New York City, attended Columbia University without graduating, and apprenticed under Bruce Price. He studied architecture in Europe at the ...

, 1911 (razed). * "Atlantic and Pacific", one of several murals he made for the

Panama Pacific International Exposition Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, San Francisco, 1915. * Six murals for

Buffalo City Hall Buffalo City Hall is the seat for municipal government in the City of Buffalo, New York. Located at 65 Niagara Square, the 32-story Art Deco skyscraper was completed in 1931 by Dietel, Wade & Jones. The building is one of the largest and t ...

, Buffalo, New York. Two large murals in the main entrance hall represent the city's role as a border city, while four murals at the end of hallways show the city's work in "Charity," "Protection," "Education," and "Construction." Completed 1931. * Ceiling murals of battle scenes, Governor's Reception Room,

New York State Capitol The New York State Capitol, the seat of the Government of New York State, New York state government, is located in Albany, New York, Albany, the List of U.S. state capitals, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The seat ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. * Three murals in the Great Reading Room, Seerley Hall at the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

. The first is called ''In Memoriam,'' the second ''Education,'' and the third is a combination of three paintings, called ''The Glory and Grandeur of Iowa''. The three sections of the third are known as ''Agriculture,'' ''The Council of Indians,'' and ''The Commonwealth''.

Gallery

Image:dodgealbany2.jpg, Central panel, ceiling of the Governor's Reception Room at the

in Albany, 1929 Image:Dodge Sunlit Path.jpg, Sunlit Path, 1891 Image:DodgeVictorianWomanInWhite.jpg, Victorian Woman in White, 1891 Image:Painting Art Library WmDodge.jpg, Mural in

Jefferson building, 1896 Image:DodgeMeditation.jpg, Meditation, 1897 Image:LastDaysofTenochtitlanB.jpg, Last Days of Tenochtitlan (Tulane University -

New Orleans, LA New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

) 1899 Image:DodgeSunkenGardenLongIsland.jpg, Sunken Garden Beneath Wall, Villa Francesca, Setauket, Long Island, 1915 Image:Buffalocityhall-dodgemural.jpg, Buffalo City Hall Mural (Buffalo, New York) 1931 Image:Buffalocityhall-dodgemural2.jpg, Buffalo City Hall Mural (Buffalo, New York) 1931 File:Ceiling mosaic in the Surrogate's Courthouse (32335).jpg, Mosaic in the

, New York City File:Ceiling mosaic in the Surrogate's Courthouse (32331)c.jpg, Detail from the Surrogate's Courthouse mosaic, New York City

References

External links

Biography and photograph
Smithsonian American Art Museum site], links to more works
Dodge paintings at the Library of Congress
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodge, William De Leftwich 1867 births 1935 deaths American muralists 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Art Students League of New York faculty People from Bedford, Virginia Artists from Albany, New York American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Académie Colarossi alumni Painters from New York City Painters from Virginia Cooper Union faculty Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)