Mabel May Woodward has been celebrated as “a master of Impressionist-tinged lighting and color effects.” She is best known for her pleasant depictions of recreational American life, and most notably for her beach scenes from summers spent in Ogunquit, Maine. Woodward studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and with William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) and Frank Vincent DuMond (1865 -1951) at the Art Students League in New York. She was active in the artist associations in her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island such as the Providence Art Club and the Providence Watercolor Club. She was also a member of the Ogunquit Art Association. In 1900 Woodward joined the faculty at her alma mater, RISD, where she taught for twenty-five years.

1. Bill Van Siclen, “Woodward is back in the Limelight” in The Providence Journal, 2 October 1992, D- 16.