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Robert William Wood Art

American, 1889-1979

Robert William Wood (1889–1979) is often considered to be among America’s most prolific artists because of the extraordinary number of landscapes he painted of the country’s greatest natural treasures — scenes as diverse as the California coast, the Rocky Mountains and springtime in the Texas bluebonnets. The gifted painter worked for nearly 60 years, often completing one painting a day.

Today, Robert Wood paintings are very popular for those seeking to bring luminous landscapes into their homes.

Wood was born in Kent, England, and emigrated in 1910 to the United States, where he spent his whole career. He was fond of plein air painting, which refers to the practice of painting outdoors, and when Wood moved to California from Texas in 1941, the last of the painters associated with the California Plein-Air School were still exhibiting but the popularity of the movement was dwindling. Wood’s paintings contain a great deal of detail and delicacy, but toward the end of his career in the mid-1950s, the artist began painting in a more Impressionistic style, with looser, bolder brushstrokes.

The critically acclaimed art movements that arose during Wood’s lifetime — Abstract Expressionism and Pop art among them — were far removed from the kind of traditional art that Wood practiced, and he did not seek to promote himself. But despite the artist’s lack of critical success, Wood was immensely popular and became a household name. Millions of color reproductions of his paintings, which have been praised for their depictions of natural light and enchanting use of color, have been sold over the years and can be found in homes all over the United States.

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Robert Wood 'Golden Splendor' Seascape Landscape Painting
By Robert William Wood
Located in San Rafael, CA
Robert William Wood (American, 1889-1979) Golden Splendor, 1964 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right Titled verso with artist's stamp Unframed canvas: 24"h x 48"w Image shown w...
Category

1960s Contemporary Robert William Wood Art

Materials

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Sunset in the Sierra's 1942 - California Mountain Landscape oil on canvas framed
By Robert William Wood
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Housed in a period, hand carved, gold leaf frame. Dimensions: 28 x 36 inches Signed and dated Robert Wood ‘42 Provenance: Private Collection, Cleveland, Ohio Dr. S. Robbins, Cleve...
Category

1940s American Impressionist Robert William Wood Art

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Mountain Landscape
By Robert William Wood
Located in Houston, TX
ROBERT WILLIAM WOOD(1889-1979) Robert William Wood was an American landscape painter. He was born in England, emigrated to the United States and ros...
Category

1930s Other Art Style Robert William Wood Art

Materials

Oil

"Topanga Canyon", Robert Wood, Original Oil on Canvas, Landscape, 25x30 in.
By Robert William Wood
Located in Dallas, TX
Known for his scenes of the California coast, Rocky Mountain landscapes and depictions of the springtime flowering of the Texas Bluebonnets , Robert W. Wood probably painted more works of the landscape of the United States than any artist in the annals of American art. This painting is a perfect representation of Robert Woods classic American landscape. The trees are starting to turn yellow and gold as a small river rushes down through Topanga canyon...
Category

1970s American Impressionist Robert William Wood Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

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As a youth, he came to the United States in 1910, having served in the Royal Army, and he never returned to England. He traveled extensively all over the United States, especially in the West, often in freight cars, and also painted in Mexico and Canada. His itinerant existence took him to Illinois where he worked as a farmhand, to Pensacola, Florida where he married, briefly in Ohio, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In 1912, he was in Los Angeles, and In the late 1920s and early 1930s, in San Antonio, Texas, where he lived and in 1928 exhibited in the "Texas Wildflower Competition." From San Antonio, he gained a national reputation for his strong colored, dramatic paintings. Some of that prestige has been credited to his asssociation with Jose Arpa, prominent Texas artist. Wood also gave art lessons, and one of his students was Porfirio Salinas. During this period, Wood sometimes signed his paintings G. Day or Trebor, which is Robert spelled backwards. In 1941 he went to California and painted numerous desert and mountain landscapes and coastal scenes. He lived in Carmel for seven years, and then moved to Woodstock, New York, but he soon returned to California, settling first in Laguna Beach, then San Diego, and finally in the High Sierras, where he and his wife built a home and studio near Bishop and lived until his death in 1979. Robert Wood was born March 4, 1889 in Sandgate, England, a small town on the Kentish coast not far from the white cliffs of Dover. His father, W. J. Wood, was a successful painter who recognized Robert's unusual talent. At the age of twelve, his father enrolled Wood in art school in the small town of Folkstone. He then attended the South Kensington School of Art. While attending art school, Wood won four first awards and three second awards, one each year, a record. In 1910 after service in the Royal Army, nineteen-year-old Wood and his friend, Claude Waters, immigrated to America. Initially, he settled in Illinois and worked as a hired hand on a farm belonging to Water's uncle. He would then strike out on his own, living the life of an itinerant painter. Wood traveled as a hobo, hopping freight trains and selling or bartering small paintings to support him along the way. When times were hard, he worked at whatever job was available. In this manner, he saw most of the United States and fell in love with rural America. By 1912, Wood visited Los Angeles for the first time, arriving on the day of the Titanic tragedy. Later that year, he had met, courted and married young Eyssel Del Wagoner in Florida. The couple moved to Ohio where a daughter, Florence, was born. During World War I, the family moved to Seattle where a son, John Robert Wood, was born in 1919. In the early 1920's, the young Wood family was almost constantly on the move. They stayed for short periods in Kansas, Missouri, California and for a longer time in Portland, Oregon, where Wood's friend Claude Waters had settled. Wood's seemingly endless wanderings disrupted his family life and delayed his development as a painter. However, through his travels he developed an appreciation for the American landscape that would inspire him for the rest of his career. Although aware of the current movement away from traditional realism in American art, he elected to travel that solitary path and remain true to his own vision of American’s grandeur and beauty poetically translated through his landscape and seascape paintings. In 1923, the Wood family discovered the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas and it was there that he and his family would finally settle. He studied briefly at the San Antonio Art School with Spanish colorist Jose Arpa y Perea (1860-1952), who had arrived in San Antonio that same year. 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"AROUND THE BEND" TEXAS HILL COUNTRY BLUEBONNET IMAGE SIZE 26 X 36 Circa 1940
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Located in San Antonio, TX
Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 26 x 36 Frame Size: 33 x 44 Medium: Oil Circa 1940 "Around The Bend" Texas Hill Country Bluebonnet Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) A painter of realistic landscapes reflecting a vanishing wilderness in America, Robert Wood (not to be confused with Robert E. Wood) is reportedly one of the most mass-produced artists in the United States. His painting became so popular he was unable to meet all of the demands, and many of his works were reproduced in lithographs and mass distributed as prints, place mats, and wall murals by companies including Sears, Roebuck. He was born in Sandgate, Kent on the south coast of England near Dover, the son of W.L. Wood, a famous home and church painter who recognized and supported his son's talent. In fact, he forced his son to paint by keeping him inside to paint rather than playing with his friends. At age 12, Wood entered the South Kensington School of Art. As a youth, he came to the United States in 1910, having served in the Royal Army, and he never returned to England. He traveled extensively all over the United States, especially in the West, often in freight cars, and also painted in Mexico and Canada. His itinerant existence took him to Illinois where he worked as a farmhand, to Pensacola, Florida where he married, briefly in Ohio, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In 1912, he was in Los Angeles, and in the late 1920s and early 1930s, in San Antonio, Texas, where he lived and in 1928 exhibited in the "Texas Wildflower Competition." From San Antonio, he gained a national reputation for his strong colored, dramatic paintings. Some of that prestige has been credited to his association with Jose Arpa, prominent Texas artist. Wood also gave art lessons, and one of his students was Porfirio Salinas. During this period, Wood sometimes signed his paintings G. Day or Trebor, which is Robert spelled backwards. In 1941 he went to California and painted numerous desert and mountain landscapes and coastal scenes. He lived in Carmel for seven years, and then moved to Woodstock, New York, but he soon returned to California, settling first in Laguna Beach, then San Diego, and finally in the High Sierras, where he and his wife built a home and studio near Bishop and lived until his death in 1979. Robert Wood was born March 4, 1889 in Sandgate, England, a small town on the Kentish coast not far from the white cliffs of Dover. His father, W. J. Wood, was a successful painter who recognized Robert's unusual talent. At the age of twelve, his father enrolled Wood in art school in the small town of Folkstone. He then attended the South Kensington School of Art. While attending art school, Wood won four first awards and three second awards, one each year, a record. In 1910 after service in the Royal Army, nineteen-year-old Wood and his friend, Claude Waters, immigrated to America. Initially, he settled in Illinois and worked as a hired hand on a farm belonging to Water's uncle. He would then strike out on his own, living the life of an itinerant painter. Wood traveled as a hobo, hopping freight trains and selling or bartering small paintings to support him along the way. When times were hard, he worked at whatever job was available. In this manner, he saw most of the United States and fell in love with rural America. By 1912, Wood visited Los Angeles for the first time, arriving on the day of the Titanic tragedy. Later that year, he had met, courted and married young Eyssel Del Wagoner in Florida. The couple moved to Ohio where a daughter, Florence, was born. During World War I, the family moved to Seattle where a son, John Robert Wood, was born in 1919. In the early 1920's, the young Wood family was almost constantly on the move. They stayed for short periods in Kansas, Missouri, California and for a longer time in Portland, Oregon, where Wood's friend Claude Waters had settled. Wood's seemingly endless wanderings disrupted his family life and delayed his development as a painter. However, through his travels he developed an appreciation for the American landscape that would inspire him for the rest of his career. Although aware of the current movement away from traditional realism in American art, he elected to travel that solitary path and remain true to his own vision of American’s grandeur and beauty poetically translated through his landscape and seascape paintings. In 1923, the Wood family discovered the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas and it was there that he and his family would finally settle. He studied briefly at the San Antonio Art School with Spanish colorist Jose Arpa y Perea (1860-1952), who had arrived in San Antonio that same year. In the latter part of the 1920’s, Jose Arpa’s influence quickly became evident. Wood after several years of experimentation was becoming fine easel painter, capable of great subtlety with a new mature original style. Like Texas painters Robert Onderdonk (1853-1917) and his son Julian Onderdonk (1882-1922), Robert Wood concentrated on the distinctive Texas landscape with its Red Oak trees and wildflowers that covered the hill country landscape. He developed a reputation for his scenes of Blue Bluebonnets, the state flower. In the spring, the Texas prairie is covered with wildflowers, especially in the hill country surrounding San Antonio and Austin. Wood incorporated native stone barns and rough wood farmhouses that added authenticity and romance to his compositions. In 1925, Wood was divorced from his wife. In 1932, he moved to the famous scenic loop on San Antonio's outskirts. While still living in Texas, he took extensive western sketching trips that brought him to California. It is evident that his 1930’s California and Texas works started to show his an awareness of the then popular California Plein-Air movement. These more mature works are distinguished by a fine sense of detail reminiscent of late-19th-century American landscape painters laced with the colorful influence of American and French impressionism. With paintings being shipped to dealers across the continent, Wood’s reputation with collectors was growing nationally. It should be noted that from 1924 and 1940 Robert Wood also signed his paintings G. Day (Good Day) and Trebor (Robert backwards). He only used these signatures during these years (1924- 1940) and there is conflicting information as to why. In 1941 after seventeen years in Texas, Robert Wood and his second wife Tula, who he had met in San Antonio, moved to coastal town of Laguna Beach, California. Laguna had been an artist colony since early in the century and it was the birthplace for California Plein-Air School, which was still active. While in Laguna, he developed a following for both his landscapes and marine paintings. Wood's paintings of the California coast remained a significant part of his oeuvre. Living in Laguna for seven years, Robert Wood became an active member of the Laguna Art Association and an exhibitor at the annual Laguna Festival of the Arts. After the War in 1948, the Woods moved east and bought a home Woodstock, New York, which he had visited in the 1930’s. It was a popular artist colony located in the Catskills Mountains. He purchased a studio hidden deep in the Wood Stock forest where Maples and Elms, as well as a quiet brook surrounded his small rustic studio. He found inspiration from the bold autumn colors of the forest, the Catskill Mountains covered in pillows of snow and the blossoming fruit trees of spring. During this period, he made sketching trips to New Hampshire, Vermont and along the Maine coast. Although included in his eastern subjects, these Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine subjects are rare when compared to the hundreds of paintings done while in Woodstock. The public was captivated with Roberts Wood’s seasonal Woodstock paintings...
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1940s Impressionist Robert William Wood Art

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"Boerne Texas" Bluebonnets Texas Hill Country Ranch
By Robert William Wood
Located in San Antonio, TX
Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 25 x 30 Frame Size: 33 x 38 Medium: Oil "Boerne Texas" Bluebonnet Hill Country Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889...
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"Bluebonnets" Texas Hill Country Ranch Bluebonnet
By Robert William Wood
Located in San Antonio, TX
Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 12 x 16 Frame Size: 22 x 26 Medium: Oil Signed & Inscribed Lower Right "Bluebonnet" Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) ...
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Laguna Surf Seascape by Robert W. Wood
By Robert William Wood
Located in Soquel, CA
Brilliant and substantial ocean scene of Laguna, California by American artist Robert William Wood (American, 1889-1979) Image 24"H x 35"W. In a distressed Cape Cod-style wood frame....
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"Texas Pond" Texas Hill Country Ranch
By Robert William Wood
Located in San Antonio, TX
Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 25 x 30 Frame Size: 34 x 39 Medium: Oil 1957 "Texas Pond" Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) A painter of...
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"Freedom" Texas Hill Country Ranch Landscape
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Located in San Antonio, TX
Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 24 x 36 Frame Size: 31 x 43 Medium: Oil "Freedom" Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) A painter of realist...
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”Twilight Laguna Beach”
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"Boerne Hills" Texas Hill Countruy
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Robert Wood (G. Day) "Boerne Hills" (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 25 x 30 Frame Size: 31 x 36 Medium: oil 1953 Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) A painter of realistic landscapes reflecting a vanishing wilderness in America, Robert Wood (not to be confused with Robert E. Wood) is reportedly one of the most mass-produced artists in the United States. His painting became so popular he was unable to meet all of the demands, and many of his works were reproduced in lithographs and mass distributed as prints, place mats, and wall murals by companies including Sears, Roebuck. He was born in Sandgate, Kent on the south coast of England near Dover, the son of W.L. Wood, a famous home and church painter who recognized and supported his son's talent. In fact, he forced his son to paint by keeping him inside to paint rather than playing with his friends. At age 12, Wood entered the South Kensington School of Art. As a youth, he came to the United States in 1910, having served in the Royal Army, and he never returned to England. He traveled extensively all over the United States, especially in the West, often in freight cars, and also painted in Mexico and Canada. His itinerant existence took him to Illinois where he worked as a farmhand, to Pensacola, Florida where he married, briefly in Ohio, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In 1912, he was in Los Angeles, and In the late 1920s and early 1930s, in San Antonio, Texas, where he lived and in 1928 exhibited in the "Texas Wildflower Competition." From San Antonio, he gained a national reputation for his strong colored, dramatic paintings. Some of that prestige has been credited to his asssociation with Jose Arpa, prominent Texas artist. Wood also gave art lessons, and one of his students was Porfirio Salinas. During this period, Wood sometimes signed his paintings G. Day or Trebor, which is Robert spelled backwards. In 1941 he went to California and painted numerous desert and mountain landscapes and coastal scenes. He lived in Carmel for seven years, and then moved to Woodstock, New York, but he soon returned to California, settling first in Laguna Beach, then San Diego, and finally in the High Sierras, where he and his wife built a home and studio near Bishop and lived until his death in 1979. Robert Wood was born March 4, 1889 in Sandgate, England, a small town on the Kentish coast not far from the white cliffs of Dover. His father, W. J. Wood, was a successful painter who recognized Robert's unusual talent. At the age of twelve, his father enrolled Wood in art school in the small town of Folkstone. He then attended the South Kensington School of Art. While attending art school, Wood won four first awards and three second awards, one each year, a record. In 1910 after service in the Royal Army, nineteen-year-old Wood and his friend, Claude Waters, immigrated to America. Initially, he settled in Illinois and worked as a hired hand on a farm belonging to Water's uncle. He would then strike out on his own, living the life of an itinerant painter. Wood traveled as a hobo, hopping freight trains and selling or bartering small paintings to support him along the way. When times were hard, he worked at whatever job was available. In this manner, he saw most of the United States and fell in love with rural America. By 1912, Wood visited Los Angeles for the first time, arriving on the day of the Titanic tragedy. Later that year, he had met, courted and married young Eyssel Del Wagoner in Florida. The couple moved to Ohio where a daughter, Florence, was born. During World War I, the family moved to Seattle where a son, John Robert Wood, was born in 1919. In the early 1920's, the young Wood family was almost constantly on the move. They stayed for short periods in Kansas, Missouri, California and for a longer time in Portland, Oregon, where Wood's friend Claude Waters had settled. Wood's seemingly endless wanderings disrupted his family life and delayed his development as a painter. However, through his travels he developed an appreciation for the American landscape that would inspire him for the rest of his career. Although aware of the current movement away from traditional realism in American art, he elected to travel that solitary path and remain true to his own vision of American’s grandeur and beauty poetically translated through his landscape and seascape paintings. In 1923, the Wood family discovered the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas and it was there that he and his family would finally settle. He studied briefly at the San Antonio Art School with Spanish colorist Jose Arpa y Perea (1860-1952), who had arrived in San Antonio that same year. In the latter part of the 1920’s, Jose Arpa’s influence quickly became evident. Wood after several years of experimentation was becoming fine easel painter, capable of great subtlety with a new mature original style. Like Texas painters Robert Onderdonk (1853-1917) and his son Julian Onderdonk (1882-1922), Robert Wood concentrated on the distinctive Texas landscape with its Red Oak trees and wildflowers that covered the hill country landscape. He developed a reputation for his scenes of Blue Bluebonnets, the state flower. In the spring, the Texas prairie is covered with wildflowers, especially in the hill country surrounding San Antonio and Austin. Wood incorporated native stone barns and rough wood farmhouses that added authenticity and romance to his compositions. In 1925, Wood was divorced from his wife. In 1932, he moved to the famous scenic loop on San Antonio's outskirts. While still living in Texas, he took extensive western...
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1950s Impressionist Robert William Wood Art

Materials

Oil

"Texas Bluebonnets" Hill Country Lanscape
By Robert William Wood
Located in San Antonio, TX
Robert Wood (G. Day) Bluebonnets, Bluebonnet (1889 -1979) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 16 x 20 Frame Size: 21.5 x 25.25 Medium: Oil Circa 1940 "Bluebonnets" An incredible early piece by one of the greats. Biography Robert Wood (G. Day) (1889 -1979) A painter of realistic landscapes reflecting a vanishing wilderness in America, Robert Wood (not to be confused with Robert E. Wood) is reportedly one of the most mass-produced artists in the United States. His painting became so popular he was unable to meet all of the demands, and many of his works were reproduced in lithographs and mass distributed as prints, place mats, and wall murals by companies including Sears, Roebuck. He was born in Sandgate, Kent on the south coast of England near Dover, the son of W.L. Wood, a famous home and church painter who recognized and supported his son's talent. In fact, he forced his son to paint by keeping him inside to paint rather than playing with his friends. At age 12, Wood entered the South Kensington School of Art. As a youth, he came to the United States in 1910, having served in the Royal Army, and he never returned to England. He traveled extensively all over the United States, especially in the West, often in freight cars, and also painted in Mexico and Canada. His itinerant existence took him to Illinois where he worked as a farmhand, to Pensacola, Florida where he married, briefly in Ohio, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In 1912, he was in Los Angeles, and In the late 1920s and early 1930s, in San Antonio, Texas, where he lived and in 1928 exhibited in the "Texas Wildflower Competition." From San Antonio, he gained a national reputation for his strong colored, dramatic paintings. Some of that prestige has been credited to his asssociation with Jose Arpa, prominent Texas artist. Wood also gave art lessons, and one of his students was Porfirio Salinas. During this period, Wood sometimes signed his paintings G. Day or Trebor, which is Robert spelled backwards. In 1941 he went to California and painted numerous desert and mountain landscapes and coastal scenes. He lived in Carmel for seven years, and then moved to Woodstock, New York, but he soon returned to California, settling first in Laguna Beach, then San Diego, and finally in the High Sierras, where he and his wife built a home and studio near Bishop and lived until his death in 1979. Robert Wood was born March 4, 1889 in Sandgate, England, a small town on the Kentish coast not far from the white cliffs of Dover. His father, W. J. Wood, was a successful painter who recognized Robert's unusual talent. At the age of twelve, his father enrolled Wood in art school in the small town of Folkstone. He then attended the South Kensington School of Art. While attending art school, Wood won four first awards and three second awards, one each year, a record. In 1910 after service in the Royal Army, nineteen-year-old Wood and his friend, Claude Waters, immigrated to America. Initially, he settled in Illinois and worked as a hired hand on a farm belonging to Water's uncle. He would then strike out on his own, living the life of an itinerant painter. Wood traveled as a hobo, hopping freight trains and selling or bartering small paintings to support him along the way. When times were hard, he worked at whatever job was available. In this manner, he saw most of the United States and fell in love with rural America. By 1912, Wood visited Los Angeles for the first time, arriving on the day of the Titanic tragedy. Later that year, he had met, courted and married young Eyssel Del Wagoner in Florida. The couple moved to Ohio where a daughter, Florence, was born. During World War I, the family moved to Seattle where a son, John Robert Wood, was born in 1919. In the early 1920's, the young Wood family was almost constantly on the move. They stayed for short periods in Kansas, Missouri, California and for a longer time in Portland, Oregon, where Wood's friend Claude Waters had settled. Wood's seemingly endless wanderings disrupted his family life and delayed his development as a painter. However, through his travels he developed an appreciation for the American landscape that would inspire him for the rest of his career. Although aware of the current movement away from traditional realism in American art, he elected to travel that solitary path and remain true to his own vision of American’s grandeur and beauty poetically translated through his landscape and seascape paintings. In 1923, the Wood family discovered the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas and it was there that he and his family would finally settle. He studied briefly at the San Antonio Art School with Spanish colorist Jose Arpa y Perea (1860-1952), who had arrived in San Antonio that same year. In the latter part of the 1920’s, Jose Arpa’s influence quickly became evident. Wood after several years of experimentation was becoming fine easel painter, capable of great subtlety with a new mature original style. Like Texas painters Robert Onderdonk (1853-1917) and his son Julian Onderdonk (1882-1922), Robert Wood concentrated on the distinctive Texas landscape with its Red Oak trees and wildflowers that covered the hill country landscape. He developed a reputation for his scenes of Blue Bluebonnets, the state flower. In the spring, the Texas prairie is covered with wildflowers, especially in the hill country surrounding San Antonio and Austin. Wood incorporated native stone barns and rough wood farmhouses that added authenticity and romance to his compositions. In 1925, Wood was divorced from his wife. In 1932, he moved to the famous scenic loop on San Antonio's outskirts. While still living in Texas, he took extensive western sketching...
Category

1940s Impressionist Robert William Wood Art

Materials

Oil

Robert William Wood art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Robert William Wood art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robert William Wood in oil paint, paint, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Robert William Wood art, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Samuel Hyde Harris, William Lester Stevens, and Gifford Beal. Robert William Wood art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $11,600 and tops out at $35,000, while the average work can sell for $12,500.

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