RSW's Diary Comments

Repainted winter 1941-2. A small canvas repainted from very old one the same size, as Grand Central Art Galleries of N. Y. wanted one such sized canvas in my March 1942 exhibition. I destroyed the old canvas when the above was painted. Barnyard of Harrison Keach's, with Mrs. "Josey" Keach feeding a flock of Rhode Island Reds. One of my very few small canvases. In Lena's room but not for her ownership."

Editor's Note:

This is officially Woodward smallest known professional painting at 480 square inches.

April Sugaring, 1941
This painting is one of many that Woodward
repainted between the years 1938 and 1945.

Between the years 1938 and 1945, Woodward "repainted" a large number of paintings from earlier paintings he kept in storage. The paintings were kept by Woodward in storage for any number of reason. The primary reason was often that they were unsatisfactory for one reason or another. It is important to point out that the years between 1938 and 1945 were the years leading up to and including World War 2. 1938 is also the year the depression began to ease. There could be a number of factors as to why Woodward would do this. It is anyone's guess:

He could have simply wanted to free up some room in his storage area. Some paintings went as far back as his earliest years as a professional, including Quintessential Redgate paintings!

It could be that he was not well enough to travel as much as he would like or as often and so he made due working on paintings he had always hoped to correct or have a fresh take on.

He could have fallen into a creative funk and used the old paintings to inspire or break free of the funk.