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THROUGH OCTOBER HILLS






Diary Comments:
"Painted 1944-45. A brilliant autumn canvas, composed in the studio from elements of different previous canvases of mine, a purplish Oct. mountain with shafts of sunlight on it. The background (taken from Just After Haying Time ) - a stonewalled roadway running out of the foreground to drop into middle distance (taken from Wind'll Blow Hill canvas) with mass of autumn trees at the left. Made for tentative clients of Vose Galleries but not bought by them when offered for inspection. Soon purchased, however, from the studio by Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Billings of Hatfield, Mass. At the time made several variations in size composition etc. of the same general theme."

                  

It was unusual for RSW to make paintings in this manner. Well over 90% of his canvases were unique. Occasionally, if a painting sold soon after completion to someone out west, he would make a copy of it in the studio before shipping it, with the intention of offering it for sale to a local patron. But this was rarely done.

I have recently learned the current location of two of the Through October Hills paintings and I have arbitrarily renamed them #1 and #2. Someday I expect to locate at least two more of different sizes which will be named as #3 and #4.

RSW would make duplicate canvases during cold winter days when he could not paint outside. The above paintings were done during such a time. I think, in all, he made four of these. I did not know, however, until recently, that he apparently named all four the same name: Through October Hills . It was customary for all his paintings to have individual unique names.

                    



MLP
January 2006