Featured Artwork: In Keach's Barn

New Hay, mid-1920s

None.

Editor's Note:

The name of this painting comes from the catalog produced by the Deerfield Academy's 1969-'70 American Studies Group on Woodward. It is one of five paintings we believe are roughly the same scene as New Hay seen to the left. Why the artist appreciated this subject so much is summed up best in a December 1926 article on his successful one-man showing at the Lyman residence in Boston that appeared in the Springfield Union newspaper. The quote is in reference to the painting Old Rafters:

This painting was possibly made special for this, Woodward's first showing at Tryon, as it is important to his message which is specifically referenced in the program's biographical sketch of the artist. It states: "His pictures are the result of self-criticism and a desire to say something that he feels strongly."

From the exhibit program for the
1931 Tryon Gallery at Smith Coll. show

There are at least seven known "inside the barn" pieces of artwork and they are as follows:

• In the Old Barn, pastel, 1921
• Old Rafters, oil, 1924
• New Hay, oil, 1925 ✽
• Dusty Rafters, oil, 1929 ✽
• In Keach's Barn, pastel, 1931
• Inside the Barn, oil, 1942
• Inside the Old Barn, ???, ????

Artwork with an image is noted with an asterisk *

While we only have two pictures of the seven known paintings listed above. They are all very likely to be a similar subject and more likely to be the little red barn on the Keach farm. The Keach Farm was the artist's most studied New England farm. The barn is believed to be The Little Red Barn