RSW's Diary Comments

"Painted about 1936. West end of Halifax House, exhibited at Macbeth, Kansas City, Vose Galleries etc. and in dining room of Myles Standish Hotel. Bought in Oct. 1945 by Mr. and Mrs. John Fellows (Helen Pierce) of Mahwah, New Jersey."

Comments on the back of a sepia print:

"Owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Fellows, daughter and son-in-law of Charles Pierce, Mahwah, N. J. "

Sketchbook Drawing: In November

To the left: we have a sketch drawing made by RSW similar to the perspective in this painting only it is clearly a late fall / winter drawing.

Woodward made numerous sketches and chalk drawing that never quite felt right for him to complete or paint. For some examples, see the Unfinished Gallery at the bottom of the Unnamed Gallery.

Please also see Haying Time, a very similar painting but with a man raking the hay.

Woodward's study of the Halifax House was in relation to the problem of the abandoned farms in New England. The great expansion West created a void in New England that was quite a serious problem since the 1890s. But it is during the years of the Great Depression that RSW seems to say to the country, New England has face a great depression for over forty years.