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Legacy of the founder of Ogunquit artists community lives onBy Jennifer Hagan Staff writerGUNQUIT — Charles Woodbury is an icon in the history of Ogunquit’s artis- his future wife Marcia Oakes. According to* » • • • • ■ W*Peter, Oakes was a talented artist living in Boston with her sister. Oakes attended Berwick Academy in South Berw ick and decided she wanted to pursue art and travel.“She impressed him w ith her talent, Peter said. The family story goes that one day, after class, Charles approached Oakes and said. Madam. 1 cannot teach you any more about art but if you will have me. I would like to marryCL-_be viewed in Massachusetts and Portsmouth later in the summer.The exhibition. “Freeing the Line: The Etchings of Charles H. Woodbury, will be on display at the Tufts University Gallery in Medford, Mass. until May 18. In August the exhibition will travel to the Atheneum inPortsmouth.It isn't difficult to see what inspired Charles Woodbury and his w ife. Marcia Oakes, to summer and paint in Ogunquit, when viewing the property they purchased off Shore Road. Grandson Peter Woodbury and his wife, Barbara, still live on the property that once encompassed where the Ogunquit Museum of American Art is now, and Charles Woodbury'sstudio and school.According to Barbara Woodbury, it is a family legend that w hen Charles Woodbury purchased the property from a local farmer he wondered aloud w hy the Woodburvs would want the land when they hadn't any cows.Pnor to ever coming to Ogunquit.Charles was a self-taught artist fromLynn, Mass. and know n as one of the Lynn painters, a group of young male painters from the city.He engaged himself in several media all at once,” Peter Woodbury said.Woodburv was*known to work in oils, pencil, watercol-or, etchings, and even sculpture.But starting out,Charles Woodbury graduated from MIT with a degree in mechanical engineering. although Peter Woodburv said hepainted throughout his schooling. Once he graduated in 1886 he established a studio in Boston and eventually began to teach classes there.It was in one of these classes that Charles metsaid the newly wedded couple came to Maine, likely spending some time at the Oakes family cottage in York Beach. One day the couple took a trip up to Perkins Cove and decided it was where they wanted to establish a studio, perhaps to paint the sea which they loved, Barbara said.Woodburv and Oakes built the studio in 18%, the same year the couple’s first son was bom He began giving classes there two years later as the first art school in Ogunquit. Later, Charles became one of the founders of the Ogunquit Art Association.vou.“It's obvious that Ogunquit was put on the map by these artists, Peter said. “(Charles) Woodbury was not the first (artist to come to They mamed in 1890 and made several paint- OgunquitJ, but he was one of the most promi-ing trips to Europe, including Pans and Holland. nent.while the reputation of both painters grew. Peter said the two become famous almost at once. Before traveling to Europe, Barbara WoodburyOthers came to another school formed by Hamilton Easter Field, a modernist painter Prior to the influx of artists, Ogunquit was afishing village. Although with the advent of rail in 1850s, Ogunquit began to attract tourists.“I’ve heard stories that the fishermen scratched their heads at these artists, Barbara Woodbury said. However, Charles completed hundreds of pieces of fishermen, and a few of them posed for him regularly.Woodbury is perhaps best known as a marine artist as he produced hundreds of paintings of the sea. Many were of Ogunquit, some painted just outside his studio.I think his engineering degree gave him an understanding of the ocean, Barbara said. Peter said his education gave Charles an understanding of the way things worked.“He was innovative — an observer of everything. Peter said But Charles also had a sense of important events, he said. One of his etchings issL*■ *PMHit*/iftI.Ufa' *# I*9tf'J.*4lt; £of a man fixing a utility poll that could have been the first in Ogunquit.Wherever Charles went, he was armedwith paper and pencilto capture a scene.Barbara said he would have his students paintpochade or small,quick paintings, to “get them to just do it.” Another of his exercises was for his students to find a subjectand then paint as ifyou were sent for, Peter said.“I’m impressed with the volume,” Peter saidabout his grandfather's work. Charles produced thousands ofpieces before his death in 1940. He had an understanding of th«* mechanisms of anything in motion, he added, saying he didn't believe Charles had ever done a still life. Stuart Nudelman,Ogunquit artist and art critic, said Charles was really able to capture the moment. He had the facility and capability of being able to reduce a human posture or action to itsk%*4 J T*. ■£.s‘ Mw- ilM■mm-fi• •'Umbrella Shade. oilminimum... to capture the essence of w hat is taking place.”See Woodbury, page 7C
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Kennebunk York County Coast Star
Kennebunk, Maine, US
Thu, May 15, 2003
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