Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator who Developed Palm Beach

Woodward came to Florida in the 1880s and from ca.1888-1896 became one of the most extensively traveled artists in the state. She braved the alligator, panther and bear-infused jungles to depict Florida’s natural beauty in colorful watercolors and oils. Woodward was the pioneer artist of Palm Beach, one of the first professional women artists to paint in the Everglades and Miami, and the inspiration to Henry Morrison Flagler in his development of the most magnificent resort in the world. Brought up in the Victorian tradition of modesty, this gentle feminist remained publicly silent about her accomplishments and it is only now that the breadth of her importance is finally known.
Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach not only rediscovers Florida’s most important nineteenth-century woman artist and one of its greatest publicists, it also explores the challenges of women artists who lived in Woodward’s era. It thoroughly discusses the early history of Palm Beach and myths about the great Henry Morrison Flagler are refuted.