Quick Reference

Time Period:
Winter 1931

Location:
Painted at the top
of the Mohawk Trail.

Medium:
Oil on Canvas

Type:
Landscape

Category:
Landscapes & Views Gallery

Size:
36 x 42

Exhibited:
Mt. Holyoke Coll. Dwight Hall, 1931
Syracuse (NY) MFA, 1931
Valleyhead Sanitarium, 1931
Southern Vermont AA, 1931

Purchased:
Unknown

Provenance:
N/A

Noteworthy:

This painting is of the Hoosac Mountain area, above the tunnel, looking slightly northeast towards the lower reservoir where the Deerfield River cuts hard to the west.

Related Links

Featured Artwork: Winter Heights; Mohawk Trail

RSW's Diary Comments

None.


Additional Notes

Hoosac area topographic map
Hoosac Mountain Range area topographic map.
Using the sharp left cut of the Deerfield River as a
starting point, we approximate RSW's location and
perspective. Areas shaded with color give an
idea of what is visible in the painting. The black
trapezoid the dark peak in the distance.


This painting is of the Hoosac Mountain area, above the tunnel, looking slightly northeast towards the lower reservoir where the Deerfield River cuts hard to the west. The Hoosac Range is a mountain range that forms part of the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and the southern Green Mountains of Vermont, which are part of the greater Appalachian Mountain chain. This portion of the range is located in Florida, MA just east of North Adams where the Deerfield River cuts a winding, zig-zag-like path.

If you look closely in the far distance of Vermont, we believe you can see the peaks of Houghton Mountain on the left and Mount Snow on the right.

In 1932, Woodward painted two paintings from this area: (1) in late spring The Mountain Shoulder high on a ridge looking south along the Deerfield River past this formation. and the other (2) in early summer, June Hills from below, near the river, facing the opening of the Hoosac Tunnel (cut to provide train access to North Adams). This painting preceded those...[SEE BELOW]



Syracuse Post Standard, May 31, 1931 Art Chat, by Anna W. Olmsted:

"Winter Heights, a large picture handled in a large way, was painted at the top of the Mohawk Trail late last winter and records a glimpse of the Deerfield River in the valley, as it nears the Hoosac Tunnel; a composition suggesting the snow-clad steppes of Russia in its bleakness, with a flat decorative cold blue sky."