Worthington Whittredge

American, 1820-1910

BiographyThomas Worthington Whittredge,1820 – 1910, was an American artist of the Hudson River School. Whittredge was a highly regarded artist of his time. He traveled widely and excelled at landscape painting. He served as president of the National Academy of Design from 1874 to 1875 and was a member of the selection committees for the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and the 1878 Paris Exposition, both important venues for artists of the day.

Whittredge was born in a log cabin near Springfield, Ohio in 1820. He painted landscapes and portraits as a young man in Cincinnati before traveling to Europe in 1849 to further his artistic training. In Germany, he settled at the Düsseldorf Academy. Whittredge spent nearly ten years in Europe, meeting and travelling with other important artists. He returned to New York City in 1859. He launched his career as a landscape artist painting in the Hudson River School style. In 1865,Whittredge journeyed across the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains. The trip resulted in some of Whittredge’s most important works.

Whittredge moved to Summit, New Jersey, in 1880 where he continued to paint for the rest of his life. He died in 1910 at the age of 89.

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