RSW's Diary Comments

Mrs. Josephine Everett
The only picture we have of Mrs. Everett.
It comes by way of an article from the
Pasadena Evening Post dated, Friday,
June 22, 1928. She was elected Pres.
of the local Pasadena Playhouse group.

The following are remarks by Woodward from his diary for:
Passing Barn At Noon

"...The drawing [The Proud Rooster] was bought by Mrs. Henry Everett of Pasadena, prior to 1930. At her death I had it bought for me at the auction of her possessions which were not mentioned in her will. When it came back to me I was so pleased with composition and theme that I painted from it the above canvas." [Passing Barn At Noon]

Passing Barn At Noon, 1940

The Hungry Little Barn, 1927
Forgive the terrible reflections spoiling your view of
this pastel. All pastels are under glass and so they
are near impossible to get a good picture of if you
are inexperienced. The picture came for its current
owner and it is too far away for us to get new pics.

September, 22, 2023

As we precede with the update audit of the entire artwork section of the website. We can't help picking up certain coincidences. For instance, note the weather vane of the barn in the rear of the "hungry little barn" to the left. Does that not look like the rooster from The Proud Rooster above? Look at the direction of the barn cut off to the right of The Proud Rooster. It is going in the same direction as the barn behind the hungry little barn. Now look at the road or driveway to the left of the drawing of the hungry little barn and you can imagine Woodward sat right about there to make The Proud Rooster, perhaps on the same day!


Furthermore, both chalks appear in 1927 at the same Pittsfield (MA) Art League exhibition. They both have decorative contour borders, although they differ and they both also happen to end up in California... The Proud Rooster going to Mrs. Josephine Everett and exhibiting in the Los Angeles Museum on loan from Mrs. Everett in 1928.

The Funny Little House, 1932

As an aside, 1927 is the beginning of a phase or shift in interest for Woodward. He made more pastel paintings (he called chalk drawings) between 1927 and 1929 than he did oil paintings. The artist was experimenting quite a bit with variations of detail and coloring. Many of his chalks from this time appear incomplete or not his usual detail oriented style. Note how minimalistic the coloring is or how in some places you can see the board use for the drawing. Some would say this is what the modernist movement of the time entails and we would agree. There are several examples of this study. We suggest you also see:

①   December Farm, A Winter Sketch, 1928

②   High in Plainfield, 1928

③   In Old Boston, Chalk, 1930

④   In the November Sun, 1928