This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| | Born in Bristol, England in 1817. Goddard studied architecture at Oxford University and exhibited floral studies in London between 1837-44. Caught up with gold fever, he joined the rush to California in 1850. Unsuccessful at mining, he established himself in Sacramento as a government-appointed surveyor and civil engineer. (The second highest peak in the Sierra Nevada is named for him.) He made dozens of maps and sketches of northern California towns and mining camps which were published by lithographers Britton & Rey and others. He moved to San Francisco in 1866 and established a studio in the Mercantile Bldg. As a landscape painter, Goddard worked on the Monterey Peninsula, at Donner Lake, Carson Valley, the Walker River area, and in the Mother Lode country. His large collection of maps, drawings, and other Californiana was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire. Broken in spirit, he died in Berkeley a few months later on Dec. 27, 1906. A highly competent painter, his rare works are of historical importance. Exh: Calif. State Fair, 1859 (1st prize), 1865, 1872; Mechanics' Inst. (SF), 1868; SFAA, 1872-98. In: Sutter’s Fort Museum & State Museum Resource Center (Sacramento); Society of Calif. Pioneers. | Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America (Groce, George C. and David H. Wallace); California on Stone (Peters); Artists of the American West (Samuels); First 100 Years of Painting in California (J. Van Nostrand); California Pictorial (Van Nostrand & Coulter); Sacramento Bee, 8-15-1942; The Life of George Henry Goddard (Bancroft Library, 1969); SF Chronicle, 12-29-1906 (obituary). | | Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here. |
This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Landscapist George Henry Goddard was born in Bristol, England but spent the majority of his life in California. In England, he studied architecture at Oxford University. In 1850, Goddard ventured to California during the Gold Rush. He tried his hand at mining but with no luck. His next stop was Sacramento, California where he took the job of a government appointed surveyor.
He made important maps of Northern California and J.D. Whitney honored his pioneer surveying in California by naming a mountain peak in the Sierra after him.
In 1866 Goddard moved to San Francisco and continued painting landscapes of Northern California and the Monterey area. When the San Francisco earthquake hit in 1906, many of his prized works perished in the fire and destruction. Goddard died later that year, across the bay in Berkeley, California.
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