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ARCADIA: The Clyde’s Murals by William Woodward

November 9-December 15, 2019

William Woodward painting of a woman

William Woodward,Arcadia (Panel Ten detail), 1980. Oil on linen mounted to panels, 5 x 72 ft. CourtesyofKatherineNeville.

William Woodward,Arcadia (Panel Two detail), 1980

William Woodward,Arcadia (Panel Two detail), 1980. Oil on linen mounted to panels, 5 x 72 ft. CourtesyofKatherineNeville.

William Woodward,Arcadia (Panel Three detail), 1980.

William Woodward,Arcadia (Panel Threedetail), 1980. Oil on linen mounted to panels, 5 x 72 ft. CourtesyofKatherineNeville.

related events

Late Fall Opening Reception
November 9, 6-9PM
free and open to all, no RSVP required

ARCADIA Closing Party
December 14, 6-7:30PM
free and open to all, no RSVP required

“Woodward’s paintings have impressive depth and richness,” Mark Jenkins,The Washington Post (2019)

William Woodward’s vibrant, 72-foot mural,(1980), evokes a landscape of pure painterly invention, a lost world that has inspired poets, artists, and musicians since antiquity.

These 11 impressive panels—with scenes influenced by artists from Poussin to N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle—these magical forests, naked nymphs and frolicking fauns, satyrs, centaurs, and mystical seashores with mermaids, pirates, and treasure ships—became a success de scandalewhen they were first unveiled at the now legendary Clyde’s Restaurant of Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.

Clydes of Tyson Corner

William Woodward, Renowned Muralist

about the murals


The Washington Post:

about the artist

William Woodward, a third-generation native Washingtonian, is a classically-trained painter from American University and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. For 37 years, Woodward directed George Washington University's MFA program in Studio Arts, mentoring three generations of artists and art historians in the techniques of the great masters. He remains a popular guest speaker at large public forums such as the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. The recipient of multiple awards and commissions, Woodward's works are represented in museums as well as corporate, public and private art collections, including commissioned historical murals for the Visitor’s Center of the Lincoln Cottage in Washington, DC, and for Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, James Madison's Montpelier, and the Thomas Balch Library, in Virginia. His work appears in the permanent collections of the Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky; the Washington County Museum of Fine Art in Hagerstown, Maryland; the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; and the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC. His monumental mural projects, which are the subject of several film documentaries, notably include The Greatest Show on Earth at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida, and The Great Odyssey of Medicine at the Inova Women's and Children's Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia.