This website is a tribute to the life and artwork of Western Massachusetts artist Robert Strong Woodward (1885 -1957).
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Current Announcements

Thank you all for your
    SUPPORT OF WOODWARD
           and the Buckland HS

What's NEW...

There is a wonderful exhibition going on at the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turner Falls, MA, Crossroads: Change in Rural America. It is part of the Smithsonian Institute's "Museum on Main Street" initiative between the Institution and State Humanities Counsils nationwide. It runs through March 18th. For more information and the museum's hours CLICK HERE

Also involved with the exhibit is the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) who asked to include Woodward in the Discovery Center's own display to accompany the Crossroads exhibit and we were honored to be included. The Discovery Center display curated and managed by Sheila Damkoehler and it couldn't have turned out more nicely. Be sure to check it out.



A DATE HAS BEEN SET for this year's annual Summer Day on the Buckland Common event! It will be Saturday July 15, 2023. The date is rain or shine.



We know that it has not appeared to be much change to the website. That there have not been many recent updates but nothing could be further from the truth. We are in the midst of performing a comprehensive audit of all of the site's webpage's and so it is changing a little every day at a time.

The biggest changes are to ancillary things like the name that appears on your tab in your browser. You will now see the name of the painting or page you are on first correcting an error we made right from the start. All link errors are being corrected and we are working hard to correct an error in a universal change we made across the website concerning punctuation marks like the " quote mark and the ' apos-trophe the went woefully awry.

The biggest changes you will find will be to the artwork pages. Every painting is being fully researched out to include every known exhibit, what links, if any, it has to other paintings, as well as nearly completing the transcription of every newspaper clipping in Woodward's scrapbook. This means that, not only will the articles be searchable, but we will now be able to compile a complete testimonial page of the best quotes from every article. Things are really moving forward with lots of news stories to tell.


Monthly Featured Artwork from our 2022 Calendar:  Four Maple Trees in March

Four Maple Trees in March
This painting by Robert Strong Woodward, Four Maple Trees in March is the March view in the 2023 Buckland Historical Society Woodward Calendar.

Fun fact about Four Maple Trees in March. It was a personal favorite of Woodward's. We suspect he had hope to hang on to it for awhile but he made the mistake of sending it to the Southern Vermont Artist Association's annual exhibition in Manchester. There it caught the eye of Adaline Havemeyer Frelinghuysen the daughter of sugar magnet and renown art collector, Henry Osborne Havemeyer, sister of the Shelburne (VT) Museum Electra Havemeyer Webb, and Woodward's best customer buying more than 30 paintings over his career. Thus, he only had it for a couple of months, if that, because could not say no to her.


Website's Key Features


Welcome to RobertStrongWoodward.com! The website is divided into two main features. First is the Gallery of Woodward's artwork sorted in themes and then alphabetically. There is also the Scrapbook which contains collections of stories, memorabilia and specific citations related to Woodward, his life and achievements. It is at once a tribute and historical record of Woodward and the life and times from which he drew his inspiration.


Woodward's Second Love...

Not only known for his landscape paintings, Woodward had a passion for the restoration and preservation of aging buildings. In his life as a professional artist, he took an unused old diary shed and converted it to his first studio, Redgate. He then purchased an abandoned farm, the old Hiram Woodward Place, and restored it to a show piece of old New England. He then purchased an old mill (Boehmer's Mill) nearby and returned it to its former glory. After a tragic fire burned Hiram in 1934, he purchased another abandon farm, the Southick Place featuring its early 19th century blacksmith shop into a model of New England tradition that appears today as it did when he lived there... His studios are a reflection of his values.


The Artwork Galleries

The galleries consist of nearly 800 known works of art created by Woodward. We have some form of an image for approximately 75% of them! The galleries are organized in two ways. The first is the Theme Gallery, sorted into 25 categories. The second is alphabetical, making up 8 separate galleries plus a gallery of artwork RSW didn't name or we do not have a name for at this time. Plus, visit our Complete Works List and surf the website from there!

In addition to the artwork, when available, we provide additional notes and background related to the artwork, as well as, links to related paintings or locations for a richer experience and connection to the area.



Our Recollections Scrapbook

The Recollections Scrapbook is a collection of personal accounts from people who either knew Woodward personally or related to us an experience they have had related to Woodward. A number of the stories told come from this website's originator, Mark Purinton (seen in picture to the left with Woodward), who started working for Woodward as a boy.





Painting Stories Scrapbook

This is our "story behind the paintings" collection. It includes some of Woodward's favorite subjects, such as, his neighbor Harrison Keach's Farm, the Halifax (VT) House and the North Window of his Southwick studio. There is also Charlemont Bridge artwork before the bridge was destroyed in the hurriciance of 1938 and Marlboro Church, part of a "church series" Woodward was commissioned for by industrialist Francis P. Garvin before his death.




Recent Website Updates

It is an exciting time here at the website! A subscription to newspapers.com has yielded over 150 news articles and reports on Woodward's comings and goings. Especially from local sources, such as, The North Adams Transcript we have learned so much more about not only RSW's professional life but his private one too. There is so much new information we do not even know where to begin. We decided to start with Woodward's smaller professional exhibits that illustrates his connection to the area and its people, the paintings he contributed to a local PTA and the talk he gave...

... the donation of a painting to a church and another offering to a Shelburne Merchants Association event. We start with the 1928 Chalk Exhibition held at the home of Anna Koch in Greenfield and the two resulting commissions of chalks as RSW's career is really beginning to take off big. There may also be a special gem found in an article of the Johnson Homestead in East Buckland exhibit he hung on the walls with that may be the key to his rising prominence. STAY TUNED FOR MORE!

BCM

The new information will be updated on our Exhibtions and Articles List regularly:

1918 Boston Evening Transcript, October 18

1919 North Adams Transcript, April 18 & 22

1928 North Adams Transcript, Nov. 26 & Dec. 10

02-01-2021 NEW PIC

Snow in the Air

For years there has been confusion over this and its sibling Beginning to Snow. We know there were two paintings but which one appeared in the 1946 October issue of American Artist Magazine? It was this painting mislabeled as the other. See next entry for more...


02-01-2021 UPDATED

Beginning to Snow

We have had a picture of this painting for some time now but it was also used as the image for its sibling, Snow in the Air. That is now corrected. Also, the information on the page was either confusing or incomplete and so it has been updated and amended.


01-29-2021 NEW CHALK!

Against the Hill

This lovely chalk drawing recently came up for auction. It was previously unknown to us but appears to be a fairly early pastel from RSW's career. The piece includes a hard border around its edge and is framed to feature this border something RSW stopped doing after late 1920s.


01-19-2021 NEW PIC

December Window

We know we just recently offered a new picture of this window painting (see 10-13-2021) but we always make every effort to get the best possible image we can. The original image had a distracting glare on its right side. This new image is much better, with less glare.


01-12-2021 NEW PIC

New England

This had been a long time coming but we now have a new picture of this wonderful painting once owned by RSW patron-saint Mrs. Ada Small Moore. The painting itself is a "compostion painting" which to RSW means he assembled the painting from multiple others. Uncommon for the artist.


10-13-2021 NEW PIC

December Window

It has been a very long wait but a color image of this painting has finally come our way and we could not be more grateful. December Window is of the little east window in the Southwick Studio featuring the tiny bible, red oil lamp, crystal bird, blue bottle and a small geranium with the backdrop of a snow covered scene outside.


10-12-2021 NEW CHALK

House in Halifax

The image we have had of this beautiful painting taken from a 1938 issue of YANKEE Magazine was scanned about 18 years ago and no longer fitting for today's hi-res viewing platforms. Unfortunately, we had lost the magazine issue until recently. A new image is now available along with the story how YANKEE's misuse of this image delayed a feature article on RSW for two years.


10-11-2021 NEW CHALK

On the Edge of the Pond

Yet another painting (this a chalk drawing) featuring Mount Equinox in Manchester, VT has been located demonstrating how much RSW appreciated its majestic form. This chalk is from the perspective of Equinox Pond at the foot of the mountain. The page feature a topographical map approximating RSW's location along with a link to a picture of how it appears today.


10-10-2021 UPDATED

Over the Mowing Fence

This newly discovered chalk drawing of Mount Equinox from an area south of the mountain looking north features another popular element of RSW's work - from the perspective of a roadside looking over a mowing fence.


10-09-2021 NEW PIC

The Chinese Lily

We added new pictures of a few of the items that appear in this still life. Its buyer was a friend of Woodward's, Dr. B. Thruber Guild. Guild was a local Shelburne Falls doctor for a time and we have added some information regarding him and his relationship to Woodward.


07-28-2021 NEW PIC

Top of The Pasture

We have a new color picture of this epic 1928 40" x 50" painting. Up unitl recently we only had a sepia print. One of the first in a series of others of 40 x 50 paintings RSW made between 1928 and 1933 after taking a hiatus of 5 years not making any.


07-23-2021 UPDATED /

NEW PIC


The Genial Old House

We recently came across an old 8 x 10 photo of the house portrayed in this painting. In the pictue the house appears to be in serious neglect, the white paint nearly gone and missing window panes.. perhaps a decade or more after Woodward painted it.


07-19-2021 NEW PIC

A Hill Road

What a surprise when we received this, much coveted, new color picture of A Hill Road. If you remember, we sought out this location two years ado and found the old sugar house still standing! To now have an updated image is a real treat.


07-15-2021 NAMED /

NEW PIC


A Mountain in Vermont

There has been so much confusion about this beautiful painting of Mount Aeolus in Dorset, VT. It is unnamed and unsigned. Left behind at RSW's Southwick home after his death and has fallen through the cracks. No more, it was named by Dr. Purinton prior to his passing in March of 2020.


07-12-2021 UPDATED /

NEW PICS


Southwick: Then & Now

When we initially launched this page, the focus was primarily on the property's history and the studio. There was not much in the way of "how it was and how it still is" material. We have changed that adding a gallery of old pictures with new for a virtual tour around the grounds.


03-08-2021 NEW PIC

New England Heights

Unfortunately lost in the shuffle. New pictures of this painting that exhibited at the 2013 exhibition at the PVMA in Deerfield, MA never made it to the website. We have now remedied this oversight and have also adjusted its parent-painting New England Origins and its sibling High on the Hill.


03-07-2021 NEW PICS

Winter Heights; Mohawk Trail

This large (36 x 42), stunning view from above the Hoosac Tunnel, in Winter, looking slightly northeast over the zig-zag of the Deerfield River with the peaks of Boughton Mountain (west) and Mount Snow (east) in the distance must be a sight to see in person. Unfortunately, we only have this sepia from which we made a better scan. We have also added graphics!


03-06-2021 NEW PIC

Mount Peru in Summer

From a roadside somewhere in the northeast corner of Bennington County, VT Woodward drew this lovely chalk drawing of Mount Peru. We suspect he was most likely in Dorset (VT) facing east.


03-05-2021 NEW PIC

Aged Roofs

This beautiful Spring in bloom painting of the Halifax (VT) House has given us a challenge over the years. We keep discovering new, "better" images than the previous version. Still, we have yet to be completely satisfied with the quality. Here is another small, incremental step closer...


03-04-2021 NEW PIC

Where Four Walls Meet

Another challenging artwork for us (Aged Roofs the other)... we seem to continue to find better pictures than the previous version but yet they still fall short of the quality we would prefer.


FEBRUARY 2021 NEW PICS:  The 1944 Mr. & Mrs. Roger Smith Exhibition, Gardner, MA

  In December of 1944, an exhbition of Woodward paintings, arranged by F. Earl Williams at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Roger Smith, was held in Gardner, MA. For a privately held exhibit, it was quite impressive, featuring a number of Woodward's most popular and widely exhibited pieces going back as far as 1935.
  The website has recently discovered photographs taken by Williams of the paintings hanging in the home. Of the 14 paintings exhibited, we have pictures of 11 of them in their grouping seen in the next row below.


02-25-2021 NEW PIC / INFO

April Sun and
Frost on the Window

  These two unique window paintings hang together on a wall in the Smith home. April Sun is a rare painting of the south windows in the Southwick Studio. Frost on the Window is an equally rare painting of the north-side window of the Heath Pasture Studio.


02-24-2021 NEW PIC / INFO

Portrait of a Shadow and
From a Mountain Farm

  If not for Williams taking an early KodaChrome Color photo of Portrait of a Shadow we would not have a color image of it.
  From a Mountain Farm is a is a painting that for years it has been shown on the website with its sky incorrectly cropped. The full image has now been located and has replaced the incorrect one.


02-23-2021 NEW PIC / INFO

Winter Song and
The Big Chimney

  Winter Song is one of the prize paintings of this show. It hung at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939, curated by RSW friend Harold Grieve. It is one of two paintings at this show that hung at an international show.
The Big Chimney is a widely exhibited painting featured in a number of prestigous shows nationally.


02-22-2021 NEW PIC / INFO

The Road Home; chalk,
Winter Afternoon; oil, and
Mountain Meadow; chalk

  The Road Home and Mountain Meadow, both chalk drawing also hold the rare distinction of being just a handful of "composite" paintings made by RSW from 1938 to '45.
  Winter Afternoon is a favorite of RSW's. It is a painting of the Nilman House in Buckland (MA) once owned by RSW's grandfather.


02-21-2021 NEW PICS / INFO

The Little Red Barn and
Tranquility

  These two paintings hung solo on their respective walls. The Little Red Barn is similar in stature to that of The Big Chimney. It was widely exhibited nationally for many years.
  Tranquility is a treasure. One of just a handful of Redgate paintings RSW re-painted in his Southwick years.


02-02-2021 NEW PICS

October Heights

New color images of this wonderful autumn beech tree painting. What is really special about this painting is it is the only known "true foliage" artwork of the beech with it's leaves still attached. It's color illusttrates beautifully why the pasture was named "Burnt Hill."


02-02-2021 NEW FIND

Unnamed; Valley Road

Discovered in a series of F. Earl Williiams' photographs from inside the Southwick Studio. Displayed by the north window is this previously unknown painting. Our capture of this unidnetified painting is terrible but good enough to connect it to its painting should we ever locate it. View the photo we grabbed our pic from!


02-02-2021 NEW PICS

The Saddleback Barn; Vermont

We always work to keep updating and getting the best images available and this chalk drawing is the latest. We have had color pics of this piece for some time, however, the resolutions today are much superior. It is the least we can do for you and one of our favorite chalks.


02-02-2021 NEW FIND

Mountain Meadow

Discovered in a series io F. Earl Williiams' photographs from the 1944 private exhibition at the Gardner (MA) home of Roger Smith is this newly identified chalk drawing that is closely related to the composite painting New England in October.


02-02-2021 NEW FIND

A Mountain Farm

Discovered in a series of F. Earl Williiams' photographs from the 1944 private exhibition at the Gardner (MA) home of Roger Smith is this painting previously mistaken for the 25 x 30 From a Mountain Farm. It is not. It is actually a 27 x 30 painting of the same scene but with a greater sky.


02-02-2021 OOPS OUR BAD

Unnamed; Awaiting Maple

Also, discovered in a series of F. Earl Williiams' photographs, is a black and white picture of this painting. It was then that we realized our color image, taken from a color slide was reversed. It really was a 50/50 coin toss and we lost. The pics have all been corrected.


02-02-2021 NEW FIND

Beetle Herring note

We have recently located a handwritten note in Woodward's personal collection of items that makes mention of this bookplate among others. It was not until now that we have been researching Woodward's patron-saint, Minnie Eliot, that we can possiibly identify the sender of the note addressed "Beverly Farms."


02-02-2021 NEW PICS

When Sap Runs and
Apple Tree Window

Discovered in a series of F. Earl Williiams' photographs from inside the Southwick Studio. Displayed by the north window is the famous painting, once owned by Robert Frost, When Sap Runs and on the floor leaning against the radiator is Apple Tree Window.


02-02-2021 NEW PICS

October Synphony

We have new high resolution pictures of this vibrant autumn painting. Along with the new images are pictures of the handwritten notes by F. Earl Williams attached to the back stretcher describing its location and some other facts regarding Woodward for the painting's owner.


02-02-2021 NEW PICS

Unnamed; Keach's Drama

This early1920s painting of the Keach's Farm is reminiscent of Woodward's gold metal winning 1930 New England Drama of the Toy Farm. We have a number of pictures of this artwork but each is lacking, that is, until we found one taken from the 1970 Deerfield Academy retrospective.


12-12-2020 NEW INFO

Josephine Everett

Not only did we finally find a picture of Mrs. Everett, we learned so much more about her, her family and philanthropic efforts, including the collection of art she gave to the Cleveland Museum of Fine Art named after a daughter she lost at a young age, Dorothy Burnham Everett. The real prize is that her home in Pasadena still stands and is in use to this day!


12-12-2020 NEW INFO

Leonard Curtis Bookplate

This bookplate by Woodward for patent lawyer, power utility pioneer and close associate of Nikola Tesla, Leonard E. Curtis, has always been an outlier. In no simple or reasonable way could we connect a dot from RSW to Curtis. That is until now... take a look and be surprise at just how close the link between Curtis and Woodward truly is.


12-12-2020 NEW PAINTING

Unfinished: Driven Snow

Found in the basement of the Southwick home many years ago, it was misplaced and forgotten until now. Check out this unfinished 20" x 17" oil Woodward painted as a gift to someone but never finished. What special about it is the path of the tire tracks left by his car.


12-12-2020 NEW PICS

August Shade

Perhaps one of Woodward's finest paintings. A prize winner from the 1941 Corcoran Exhibition. It has so much to it, a majestic tree, a home, on a street in historic Deerfield, with a young couple walking arm and arm. Our previous pictures, taken nearly 15 years ago, have now been updated with new high resolution images.


12-12-2020 NEW PICS

Early Moonlight

This quintessential Redgate dark woods painting, once part of the G.W.V. Smith Collection of the Springfield (MA) Museum, recently came up for auction online (Dec. 10, 2020). With that we finally have new color pictures of this beautiful piece and its back stretcher.


11-01-2020 NEW PAGE

Helen Ives Schermerhorn; Bookplate

A collector of bookplates contacted us after having come across this book plate in possession of an art dealer in Europe. To our amazement, Woodward did make his friend Helen Ives a book plate after all. This was unknown to us, though we have the letter in which RSW proprosed a number of designs, we did not have a letter following up on the proposal.

Check out how much it resembles the Window Paintings he would make 15 to 20 years later.


11-01-2020 NEW PICS

Winter Window

In our constant effort to gather the best images of Woodward's paintings possible, we re-visited this painting 15 years after first photographing it. It is a beautiful piece and is one of the first Window Paintings painted by RSW in his then new Southwick Studio in 1937.

We include in our commentary a brief history of his Window Paintings and their evolution, as well as, many close up images of the window's arrangement.


11-01-2020 REVISED

Horses & Pets

Perhaps there is no more valued an asset to Woodward, especially in his early days, than his horses. He loved them like family. This page is a revised update to an earlier page created by the website founder Dr. Mark Purinton. In our effort to keep his vision alive, over the next year or so we will continue to update and revise his original work without losing his finger print on the site.

Special attention on this page is given to his lesser known horse Tsune (Soo - ney).


11-01-2020 NEW PICS

A Mountain in Pawlet

We took a trip to Manchester, VT, to get a lay of the land Woodward often traveled and painted. We went to the top of Mount Equinox, visited the Machester Country Club, stopped at Mount Aeolus and swung by the Robert Frost Museum in Shaftsbury. On a whim, late in the day, we set out to find a rock in Pawlet. How could we miss it, right? We found it but almost didn't. We took pictures of it with its autumn foliage as RSW painted it 85 years ago!


11-01-2020 NEW PICS

Under the Village Map

Over the past few years, anytime we are spending significant time at the Southwick Studio, we have been cataloging what we can. Many of the knick-knacks and bric-à-brac Woodward collected over the years, some of which appear in his paintings. On a particularly beautiful and sunny day we captured the Italian plate that appears in the painting and have added it to the page for you.


08-01-2020 NEW PAGE

Car Troubles and other Mishaps

Our efforts to find and collect old newspaper articles related to Woodward he did not keep for himself inspired this new page. We have learned what caused the damage to a buggy we have had a picture of for years and RSW had a car much earlier than we realized and have discovered a picture that supports a story told by Boston art dealer Seth Vose.


08-01-2020 UPDATED

Buggies & Body Thumps

Combining our effort with the memorializing and preserving many of Dr. Mark's original website pages and recollections... this page has been given a facelift. Addendums are separated from his words. What makes this page really special is his recollection of an incident when he was young and employed by RSW we believe may be the origin of their father/son like relationship.


08-01-2020 NEW PICS

Across the Pond

While looking for something else, we came across a folder with pictures of this artwork better than what we had showing. Those pictures included close up images of the numerous features that makes this museum piece special.


08-01-2020 NEW PIC

Winter Mist

The owner of this painting recently reached out to us with a new picture of this painting. We could not be more appreciative at how much support we receive from so many. Many thanks and enjoy the new image.


08-01-2020 REVISED

Vose Recollection

We have discovered a picture that supports a story told by Boston art dealer Seth Vose to the 1970 Deerfield Academy's American Studies Group. There was a question as to the veracity and likelihood of the story becasue it involved a two-horse drawn buckboard wagon. We now has visible evidence RSW DID own a two-horse drawn buckboard wagon.


07-01-2020 ADDED

Woodward's Accident
A Comprehensive Account


We have added 6 links to videos found on YouTube relating to the Mt. Lowe Alpine Railway for your enjoyment. Most of the videos are taken from the original silent film footage shot by (Henry) Ford Productions in the 1920s. It takes you on the journey up the mountain starting with Echo Canyon and the incline rail all the way to the Alpine Tavern.


07-01-2020 LA EXTRAS

Our Journey: The Breakthrough

We are putting together a series of "Los Angeles Extras" pages starting with this page which tells the story of the breakthrough that led to answering the greatest obstacle to putting the story together - how Woodward and his two friends arrived in Los Angeles by 8:12 a.m. from near the peak of Mt. Wilson.


07-01-2020 LA EXTRAS

Eaton Saddle Question: Happy Trails

The second page in the "Los Angeles Extras" pages series examines whether Woodward and his two friends used an 1800s mule trail to pass the treacherous Eaton Saddle in the darkness of night or if a tunnel named Mueller Tunnel was available at the time. All sources claim the tunnel was created in 1942 but our evidence suggest otherwise. We also introduce the basic background as to the origins of the Sierra Madre trails and the 1850s gold rush.


07-01-2020 LA EXTRAS

Chief Walter Auble; A Tragic Figure

One of the most prominent figures that crossed paths with Woodward on that fateful day in September 1906 is the current Chief of Police Walter Auble. Auble's story is equally tragic and we felt it is worth telling. To this day Chief Auble is the highest ranking police officer of the Los Angeles Police Department to be killed in the line of duty.


07-01-2020 NEW PIC

Winter Horizon

We recently discovered and old photograph of Winter Horizon hanging on the wall of the 1946 International Art Exhibition held annually in Springville, Utah. The exhibition continues to this day.


07-01-2020 NEW PAGE

Evening on the Hills

A recent discovery! We have known for some time RSW exhibited a painting at the 1919 Buffalo Academy of Art's Albright Museum but its name has been unknown until now. Our deep dive into newspapers.com has resulted in numerous new discoveries we will be slowly rolling out over the next few months. Though we have no image of the painting, we have two articles decribing its location.


07-01-2020 NEW PAGE

The Friendly Fireplace

In November and December of 1928, the North Adams Transcript reports on the Woodward exhibition of chalk drawings held at the home of Anna Koch. We have known of this event for some time, however, what we learn from these two brief articles is astounding! This piece is actually the inspiration for The Tutfs Living Room.


07-01-2020 NEW INFO

The Tutfs Living Room

From two articles related to the 1928 Chalk Exhibition held at the home of Anna Koch in Greenfield, we learn that artist and Woodward friend Dorothy Day Tufts' husband Harold commissioned RSW to draw a similar piece to that of The Friendly Fireplace resulting in this much loved chalk drawing. We also learn there is also another commission.


07-01-2020 NEW PAGE

Unnamed: Carson Living Room

In what will be the first of many... this unnamed chalk drawing is related to The Friendly Fireplace, The Tutfs Living Room and the 1928 Chalk Exhibition held at the home of Anna Koch in Greenfield. We now have a pretty long list of works of art made by RSW but with no name or picture we kept them to ourselves. We will now begin to make some space for these lost and forgotten pieces.


07-01-2020 REVISED

At the Top of the Pasture

As a result of the discovery of the North Adams Transcript reports on the Woodward exhibition of chalk drawings held at the home of Anna Koch, we now have the names of several buyers who bought chalks from the exhibit. This piece being on of them. We also learn several previously unknown chalks whose pages will be coming soon.


05-02-2020 NEW PAGE

Woodward's Accident
A Comprehensive Account


After sitting idle for years on our projects list due to certain discrepancies, we have recently stumbled on the missing piece of the puzzle that has prohibited us from ever publishing the story of Woodward's 1906 Labor Day accident that left him paralyzed. It is quite a ride as you will see. Once it all fell into place and knew where to look... we ended up more than we bargained for! So much so that not all the material could fit on one page and so we are now working on an "EXTRAS" page. Keep checking back...


04-02-2020 REVISED

Poet Robert Frost

After the transcription of Woodward's 1932 personal diary we now have an account of RSW's first meeting with Frost at Amherst College's Jones Library. A majority of this webpage, now includes an Editorial Commentary that explores the relationship between the great men written by Website Curator Brian Charles Miller.


04-02-2020 REVISED

To Tell My Mother I Love Her

This is the third or fouth time this page has been revised or amended in just a couple of years. The reason is so silly, it is embarassing. However, after multiple discussions between Woodward authorities, Janet Gerry and Brian Miller, we believe there is now a consensus as to the nature of this mysterious card made prior to 1908.


APRIL 2020

There are a number of new things coming this month. Besides the complete story of RSW's accident in 1906, there are new pages being developed exploring the end of Still Life paintings by RSW and the origins of Woodward's Window Paintings... an examination of the naming style for his paintings... a deeper look at RSW's interest in Illuminations and we continue to grind away at the new Sketchbook Gallery!


MORE NEW SKETCHES

New England Farm

Quiet Diginity 1

Quiet Diginity 2

The Road to Church

A Sea of Hills

Spring

Sugar House Shed

Tree on a Slope

Two Friends

Valley Peace

Yellow Farmhouse

Forgotten House in Ink

02-02-2020 NEW DRAWINGS

Schermerhorn Letter Doodles

In a letter to friend Helen Ives Schermerhorn sometime between 1910 and '16 RSW offers Helen a number of ideas for her own 'book plate.' The letter is both touching and revealing, in that, Woodward shares his impression of Helen. He also includes his own thoughts on what his plate would ideally be. A bookplate is a popular trend of the time. It is nothing more than a vanity card/label to be attached to the inside cover of one's very own book collection.


02-02-2020 NEW DRAWING

Ink drawing: Forgotten House

This never before seen ink drawing appears to be of a similar house he made in an ink wash painting from his junior year of high school in 1903, Unnamed: Forgotten House. The drawing's date is unknown and was found with a series of prints in a cabinet of his Southwick Studio. There are, however, two possible links to his friend Helen... (1) is a five triangle motif only on items meant for Helen and (2) a wind swept tree similar to a dooble made for her.


02-02-2020 NEW PIC

The Mountain Shoulder

We have a image of this much loved painting from above the Hoosac Tunnel area off the Mohawk Trail made the summer of 1932. In addition to adding the new image, we have made new topographic illustrations of the area to show the vantage point from where we believe he painted the piece.


02-02-2020 REVISED

June Hills

We have made new topographic illustrations of the area to show the vantage point from where we believe he painted this painting in 1931. We have linked it together with The Mountain Shoulder showing a top and bottom perspective of the Hoosac Tunnel area.


02-02-2020 NEW ARTWORK

Unnamed: Drama of Vermont

We have also received from its owner an image a of previously unknown oil painting. It is unsigned and unnamed but closely resembles the chalk drawing Vermont Drama. The most significant difference is the sky. It is possible this painting is linked to others painted in the area of Whitingham, VT in 1932. We have made graphics illustrating the locations we believe he made each painting.


02-02-2020 REVISED

Vermont Drama

In light of the recent discovery of Unnamed: Drama of Vermont we have made graphics illustrating the locations we believe he made each painting painted in the area of Whitingham, VT in 1932. We cannot say for certain if this chalk was made before the oil or if either were made in 1932 but we can say it is most likely both were made around the same time period.


02-02-2020 ADDENDUM

To Tell Mother I Love Her

Given a number of new items concerning a five triangle motif Woodward used almost exclusively in his corespondence with his friend Helen... we have re-thought the origin of this homemade card and made an addendum revision to the page. Find out who we think the card was made for...


February 2020

The tireless work on the new Sketchbook Gallery continues. We are getting close to finishing and still committed a slow roll out of the "never before seen" drawings and sketches. We continue with the last 5 "drawings" and continuing to the first 17 new sketches. If the difference is not obvious, let us qualify it for you. Drawings are near complete and detailed sketches that could, on their own, qualify as art. "Sketches" are simply what it means a generalized composition missing certain detail.


NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN

Drawings

Peltier Farm; Chalk

Rolling Pastures

Shaded Farm

Simple Hills

Strength of New England

Sketches

Back of the House

Below the Orchard

Big Chimney #2

Big Chimney #3

Blue Hills

The Book Corner

SKETCHBOOK MATERIAL

Sketches continued...

Bookcase and Table

Boston Window

Clouds Over Hills

Distant Hills

Dooryard Elm #5

Down a Hill Road

Edge of a Pasture

Farmhouse Road

Guarded House

Home Road

Modest Hill

Nestled Farm

10-21-2019 NEW NAME

Red Barns

Painted in the summer of 1932, this painting was never sold by RSW. It hung in his home throughout his life only to be sold upon the settling of his estate. Its name has always been unknown until now. There are 3 entries in his '32 diary in which he calls it, "Red Barns," with captital letters. It has been removed from the Unnamed Gallery. Visit and see the diary entries...


10-23-2019 NEW INFO

Mountains in Summer &
Mount Haystack Over Sadawga

These two works of art were made in the summer of 1932. Both are from Whitingham, VT near Mount Haystack and along Sadawga Lake. The lake and a patch of cleared trees on the side of a hill appear in both but from very different vantage points. One from Kentfield Road, the other near the old common. We added a graphic to illustrate.


10-26-2019 NEW INFO

Mountain Shoulder

While Woodward was making as many as 15 trips to Whitingham, VT in the summer of 1932, he managed to squeeze in a day to head to Rowe, MA to paint what we believe is Mountain Shoulder near the Hoosac Tunnel. We suspect it was the late start to his day that changed his plans to paint closer to home instead of Vermont.


10-10-2019 LETTER ADDED

November Paths

We have added a new image of a letter written by RSW to this painting's buyer along with its transcription. In the letter, RSW, gives telling insight to his perspective regarding the value of intimacy and close contact with a subject. It is a prevailing theme in his work for which critics often noted in their reviews.


10-10-2019 LETTER ADDED

Mild Winter

We have added a new image of a letter written by RSW to this painting's buyer along with its transcription. In the letter, RSW is responding to what we believe is a question the owner has asked regarding why there are no notable peaks in the distant hills. RSW descibes the vantage point from his Heath studio as facing southeast towards the Buckland Hills, confirming our suspicions.


updates continued...