Background

Whitney Stoddard was born on March 25, 1913, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Charles Nowell and Elizabeth Stoddard. He had a brother, Charles Nowell Stoddard.

Education

Whitney Stoddard graduated from Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy. In 1935 he graduated from Williams College and earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in art history from Harvard University in 1941.

Career

Whitney Stoddard had been teaching at Williams College for four years when America entered World War II in 1942. He served in the United States Navy, and when the war was over returned to Williams College as an assistant professor to 1948, an associate professor from 1948 to 1954, and a professor from 1954 to 1976, and he remained there until his retirement in 1982. While at Williams Stoddard helped expand the small college’s art department into a nationally known program whose graduates went on to jobs as directors of renowned art institutes and museums.

As a scholar, Stoddard was particularly interested in medieval French architecture and he led several research studies of the Benedictine Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul at Psalmodi. His writings reflect this interest as well and include such works as The West Portals of Saint Denis and Chartres (1952; revised edition, 1983); Monastery and Cathedral in France (1962), which was later published as Art and Architecture in Medieval France (1973); and The Sculptors of the West Portals of Chartres (1987). He was also the author of Adventure in Architecture (1958) and co-editor of The Macmillan Biography of Architects (1982).

In 2001, he produced the book, Reflections on the Architecture of Williams, with editor Thomas W. Bleezarde and photographer Arthur D. Evans. This earned him the Williamstown Historical Commission’s first preservation award.

Achievements

• Whitney Stoddard was among the earliest art historians to study the Romanesque facades and cloister sculptures at the churches of St. Gilles and St. Trophime in Arles. Together with S. Lane Faison, Jr. and William H. Pierson, Stoddard is credited with developing the small department of art at Williams College Department into one of the major inspirations for a subsequent generation of art leaders. His scholarly work on medieval sculpture and architecture is taught at numerous colleges and universities. His Art and Architecture in Medieval France (1966) remains a widely used textbook. In 1989 he received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the College Art Association.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Sculptors of the West Portraits of Chartres Cathedral

    (Presents evidence that the portals were carved by four ma...)

    1987
  • Reflections on the architecture of Williams College

    (Numerous black and white and color photos with details of...)

    2001
  • The West Portals of Saint-Denis and Chartres 1952
  • Monastery and Cathedral in France: Medieval Architecture, Sculpture, Stained Glass, Manuscripts, the Art of the Church Treasuries 1962
  • Adventure in Architecture: Building the New St. John's 1958

Connections

In 1936 Whitney Stoddard married Jean Wilson Read. In 1988 she died. In 1991, he married Elizabeth Jensvold, who died in 2002. He had three children: Brooks W. Stoddard, Lawrence J. Stoddard, and Elizabeth Stoddard.

Father:

Charles Nowell Stoddard

Mother:

Elizabeth Stoddard

Brother:

Charles Nowell Stoddard

late spouse:

Jean Wilson Read

late spouse:

Elizabeth Jensvold

Son:

Brooks W. Stoddard

Son:

Lawrence J. Stoddard

Daughter:

Elizabeth Stoddard

colleague:

S. Lane Faison

colleague:

William Pierson, Jr.

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2011