"Painted 1933. Made of the Clark farm on road from Charlemont to Hawley. Shown at my first exhibition at the Vose Gallery in Boston and so liked by Mr. Thompson, (more than any other canvas of mine). He has kept it at the gallery, up to now--1941) sending it out for exhibition to many places in attempt to sell it. Sold 1943 by Vose Galleries to Public Library of Franklin, New Hampshire (same as After Early Frost.)."
The scene of this painting was used as part of what Woodward called composite
paintings, where he takes a piece of a scene from multiple paintings and assembles them into a landscape that leans a bit toward
the romantic (to the right).
We feel we need to clarify Woodward's remarks. 1936 is the first year Vose
becomes Woodward's Boston dealer. He says as much in separate notes:
"October 9, 1935. Took to Boston in my motor car three oil paintings: New England Heritage, 27 x 30, From a May Pasture, 30 x 36, and, When the Sun Rides Low, 30 x 40, and left at the Vose Gallery, 559 Boylston Street. These galleries are to be my Boston dealers from now on."
However, this painting does not appear on the list of Woodward's first show at Vose in January 1936. It appears in a much larger show held later in April. We are assuming Mr. Thompson is the gallery's manager. The fact that he likes the painting so much it hangs in the gallery for nearly 7 years implies Mr. Thompson took ownership of the paintings legacy. This is important. It means that it took that long to sell it because it was important to find the best price and home for it.
This painting can still be found at the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, New
Hampshire. It is not often you find a public library of this size sparing the expense of buying artwork but they did. In 1943, Vose
Galleries of Boston sold this painting and After Early Frost to the library.
Actually there are a number of wonderful paintings found at the library including, one of Andrew Carnegie and another of Benjamin
Franklin. It is worth the stop if you ever find yourself in the area.
The Harry and Ethel Clark homestead in East Hawley.
To see a sketch made of this scene from the road to the farm prior to the making
of the oil painting please CLICK HERE.