Featured Artwork: New England Heritage: The Hitchcock Elm

Upon closer inspection, we have determined this
painting is NOT the Unnamed Hitchcock Elm but
one of four known paintings of the tree and house.

Diary Comments taken from Out of the Past

"Painted in summer of 1930. My first painting of the old Hitchcock Elm in Old Deerfield. The house, once the studio of George Fuller, now owned by his son Arthur Fuller. Sold from my first Macbeth Gallery Exhibition to Mr. and Mrs. Francis M. Whitehouse of New York and Manchester, Mass. (Mr. Whitehouse, 1942, died a few years ago.)"

Diary Comments taken from August Shade

"Painted 1938. Painted on side street (near gymnasium) of Old Deerfield when in great pain. House, George Fuller's old studio. Sent to Harold Grieve in Hollywood but on return not satisfied with it so repainted it during the winter of 39-40. Invited to Corcoran Biennial Washington, D.C, 1941, from Macbeth Gallery and winning 3rd place in popular vote among all pictures in the exhibition. Bought in June 1941 by Mr. Jacob Merteus, Jr. of #1 Wall Street, N.Y. City or 13 Campden Road, Scarsdale, NY"

Additional Notes

Photograph of the Elm tree and House
from around the time Woodward painted it.

The house seen in this painting was built in 1783, on a tract of land that in 1686 was designated as Deerfield communial land until 1759 and is affectionately referred to as "The Little Brown House" on Albany Road in Old Deerfield near the Academy. By the 1880's and '90's the house was in terrible condition.

In 1890, George Sheldon a 'Preservationist' and founder of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (1870), one of the first preservation societies in the country wrote and published a book on the home's history and restoration titled The Little Brown House on Albany Road.

The Elm Tree along the house derives its name from the numerous 'Hitchcocks' that lived there throughout its history, the most prominent being Edward Hitchcock who taught at the Deerfield Academy, rising to become its principal (1815-18) and then on to teach at and become the president of Amherst College in 1845. The bookstore at the academy is named after him.

"The Little Brown House" also served as the studio of George Fuller (1822 - 1884), an American figure and portrait painter. As can be seen from the photograph to the right, one of the more impressive features of "The Little Brown House" was its large east facing window which could serve as a great 'artist window.'

"The Little Brown House" from the front