William Paddock New York (1873-1956) Brownstone Blaze Gouache and pastel on canvas Signed lower right, signed and dated (1944) verso Biography from the Archives of askART: Paddock, Willard Dryden (1873-1956) Mrs. Willard Dryden Paddock, the clever young artist, was entertained by her sister-in-law, Miss Josephine Paddock, at 292 Clinton Avenue, at a delightfully informal tea on Saturday afternoon of last week. Mr. Willard Dryden Paddock is the art instructor at the Pratt Institute. Both he and his wife studied for years in Paris, and are now occupying a studio in Manhattan, at 226 Fifth Avenue. Source: Brooklyn Life (Brooklyn, New York) 17 January, 1903. Mr. Paddock, who is a nephew of Mrs. William Jerome Coombs, was born and educated in Brooklyn. He began his art studies at the Pratt Institute, where he now has classes in drawing and modeling and also delivers lectures on anatomy. One of his first successes was made by a bas relief of a young girl that he exhibited in the Salon when, as a mere youth, he was studying in Paris; his latest is the painting called The Golden Age that is now on view at the Academy of Design. In his studio he has at the moment a flower-holder that is nothing short of an inspiration. Fashioned of bronze and “pickled” a dull green by the artist’s own chemical process, it shows two graceful lads half kneeling in a basin that holds an inch or so of water. The boys are clasping each other’s hands, thus forming a circle large enough to hold a bunch of long-stemmed flowers; the other day they were jonquils. A marble group of dainty, girlish figures, holding real sea shells to shade tiny paraffin lights, is the artist’s novel idea of a bit of table adornment and for his decanter stoppers and corkscrews he has made use of the figures of Pandora and Bacchus. In Mr. Paddock’s studio also is his portrait of his wife – herself also an artist. It is a panel in oils – and almost life size - as well as exceedingly life-like. Mr. Paddock has a gentle and engaging personality, delightful adjunct to the artistic temperament and he looks startlingly like the late Richard Hovey. Source: Brooklyn Life (Brooklyn, New York) 28 March, 1908. 36" x 24", 42" x 30" (frame)