William Pearl Bodwell (1852-1940)

Son of: William 1826

William was a bookkeeper in Boston between 1877 and 1880. He was also an amateur artist during his leisure hours. (History of Sanbornton, Nh, Vol. II, p. 44.)

The Boston City Directory of 1890 lists William as a draughtsman (draftsman) working at 227 Tremont. 

Painting by William Pearl Bodwell: Harbor Scene William Pearl Bodwell was a landscape artist, wood engraver, draftsman and according to his obituary, a founding member of the Provincetown Artist Colony.

Early in his career, he was a master draftsman and printmaker for The Boston Herald. While he was a staff artist for that newspaper in 1886, one of his assignments took him to Provincetown where he made paintings that ultimately attracted other artists to the Cape Cod fishing village. On that fateful trip to Provincetown, Bodwell painted not only the beautiful coastline, but also the newly built train line running from Boston to Provincetown. Two known examples of his train line paintings from 1886 are extant. In essence, Bodwell was advertising the destination and yet today these pictures serve as reminders of the dawn of artistsÕ travel along the well-worn path from Boston to the tip of Cape Cod.

There are many examples of BodwellÕs engraving work in books, advertisements and magazines of the period. He left the newspaper in 1901 to pursue a more serious career as a painter. Bodwell often painted outdoors to more accurately capture the atmosphere and mood of his subject. Over the course of his painting career, his style evolved from Realism and Tonalism to Impressionism in lock step with the times.

Bodwell exhibited at the Bostonian Society, Boston Society of Arts and Crafts and the Boston Art Club.

Born

Died

Married

Spouse

14 Jul 1852

16 Jan 1940

1 Nov 1877

Alice E. Hoags

Lawrence, Ma

Hyde Park, Ma

Hyde Park, Ma

b. 24 Mar 1854

 

 

1909

Edith Cate Perry

 

 

Malden, Ma

b. ABT 1854

Children of William and Alice (Hoogs) Bodwell

 

Name

Birth Date

Birth Place

Death Date

Death Place

1.

Ruth Conner

5 Sep 1878

Hyde Park, Ma

23 Mar 1941

Boston, Ma

2.

Ethelind Sandford

16 Dec 1879

Hyde Park, Ma

6 Aug 1971

Gloucester, Ma

3.

Josephine Pearl

22 Mar 1881

Hyde Park, Ma

 

 

4.

William Stuart

16 Apr 1886

Hyde Park, Ma

29 Oct 1963

Milford, Ct

5.

Alice Pauline Margaret

7 Feb 1888

Hyde Park, Ma

3 Nov 1947

New Rochelle, Ny

6.

(Son)

19 Jul 1889

Hyde Park Ma

19 Jul 1889

Hyde Park, Ma

01/03/97

[Return to The Bodwell Family Home Page]

Contact: bodwell@ptcpartners.com
Copyright (C) 1996, 1997 Donald J. Bodwell. All rights reserved