Background
George Willoughby Maynard was born on 5 March 1843 at Washington, D. C. He was the son of Edward and Ellen Sophia (Doty) Maynard.
George Willoughby Maynard was born on 5 March 1843 at Washington, D. C. He was the son of Edward and Ellen Sophia (Doty) Maynard.
At the age of twenty-three Maynard began to study drawing and modeling under Henry K. Brown, the sculptor, and a year later he entered the school of the National Academy of Design, New York. Soon after this he became the pupil of Edwin White, historical painter, with whom he went to Florence in 1869. He subsequently visited Rome and thence found his way to Antwerp, where he continued his studies under J. H. F. Van Lerius at the Royal Academy of Art in that city.
In 1873, in company with his friend Francis D. Millet, Maynard went on a long journey through southeastern Europe. After an absence of five years he returned to New York in the spring of 1874. He exhibited a picture, "The Angelus, " at the National Academy of Design in 1875, and thenceforth became a regular exhibitor of portraits and figure pieces. Among his subjects were "The Strange Gods, " the "Ancient Mariner, " and the "Bachelor's Breakfast. " He was elected associate of the National Academy in 1882, and academician in 1885. In 1876 Maynard sent to the Centennial exposition in Philadelphia "Vespers in Antwerp" and "1776. " "In Strange Seas, " a group of mermaids at play, was shown at the Paris exposition of 1900 and later hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. "Sirens" and "A Sea Witch, " similar motives, appeared at the Chicago exposition of 1893, and a composition entitled "Mermaids and Marines" was in the National Academy exhibition of 1890. At the St. Louis exposition of 1904 he exhibited "Surf" and "Sport. " For a time he taught drawing classes at the Cooper Institute and at the National Academy. Among his portraits were those of William M. Evarts, Francis D. Millet, Kate Field, Chester Chapin, Judge Addison Brown, and C. C. Beaman. At the close of this undertaking, having become deeply interested in this branch of the art, he went abroad in 1877 and made a special study of the most important mural decorations in Italy, France, and England. He then took a studio in Paris (1878) but returned to New York before the end of that year, to find his services in great demand for decorative work in public and private buildings. His productions in this field include two panels in St. James' Church, Jamaica Plain, Massachussets; figures on each side of the proscenium in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York" The Chorus" and "The Ballet"; a large part of the interior decoration of the Ponce de Leon Hotel at St. Augustine, Florida; parts of the entrance hall of the Boston Public Library; decorations in Keith's Theatre, Boston, in the houses of Whitelaw Reid and William Rockefeller at Tarrytown, New York; in Sherry's ballroom and in the Waldorf-Astoria, the Manhattan, the Plaza, the Savoy, and the Imperial hotels, New York. Especially fine were the classic themes of the great main portico, with the figures of "Abundance" and "Fertility, " the Greek frieze, and the side panels showing Cybele, the mother of all the gods, seated in a golden chariot drawn by lions, and King Triptolemus, sent forth in Demeter's car with its team of winged dragons, to instruct all the nations of the earth in farming. This was his magnum opus. Less impressive though still felicitous are his Pompeian panels in the north and south corridors of the second floor of the Library of Congress, Washington. Here he chose for his designs eight floating female figures typifying "The Virtues" clad in classic drapery and relieved against the rich red background of the wall. In his decorations of the southwest pavilion he was given four tympanums and the disc in a domed ceiling, and selected for his subjects in the tympanums "Adventure, " "Discovery, " "Conquest, " and "Civilization" and for the disc appropriate qualities "Courage, " "Valor, " "Fortitude, " and "Achievement. " The ingenuity of the conceptions and the excellent workmanship are in a measure nullified by the awkward shape of the spaces, especially in the tympanums. He died on April 5, 1923 in New York City.
associate of the National Academy
In Maynard's adaptations of the Pompeian style and color scheme he was eminently successful; moreover he manifested intelligent realization of the principles governing mural work. His decorations are rich in classical ideas treated with dignity and distinction and in pertinent historical allusions, though it is true that his symbolism is at times of a stereotyped order.
Maynard was married on December 26, 1907, to Louise Brownell of Brooklyn, N. Y.