RSW's Diary Comments

Snowing Outside, 1936

"Painted in 1936. A studio window picture done in April at the window corner over my desk. One of my favorite window pictures. Exhibited at Boston Art Club, (with excellent press review.) and elsewhere and finally bought (I think the fall of '36) ---along with Snowing Outside, from the steps of the Exhibition Hall at Manchester, Vt. as it was being carried into the show (!) by Mrs. P.H. B. Frelinghuysen of Morristown NJ."

Editor's Note:

There is a record of this painting exhibiting at the BAC (Feb.'36) and then the Vose Gallery (Mar.'36)... but then the painting disappears for four years. We have several clippings for the 1936 "Flower Paintings Exhibit" held at the Boston Art Club (BAC) from February 25th through March 14th, yet only two have dates connected to them. One is just a headline, the other found in a scrapbook assembled by Dr. Mark after Woodward had passed. That newspaper clipping has the date, "Feb. 29, 1939," above it.

We know the date is wrong for two reasons. The first is that 1939 is not a leap year and not possible. The second is that it is not in Woodward's handwriting. We did find another version of the article, also without a date... but it was with other clippings about the 1936 "Flower Show" held by the BAC in a scrapbook keep by Woodward himself. The writing on the page is in his hand but we only have one date, March 4th, 1936 next to a headline only clipping. There is a small blurb, undated or sourced, written by Boston Globe art critic, A.J. Philpott 9the assumption is that the newspaper the Globe.

A pastel portrait of Adaline
Havemeyer by Mary Cassatt - 1890s.

There are a number of Cassatt's and
Dugas' work at the Shelburne Mus-
eum founded by her sister Electra.

Geraniums and the Mountain will then exhibit at the Vose Gallery in April while the canvas, From the North Window, steals much of the thunder at the Jordan Marsh, "Art Week" exhibit by being the featured artwork in three separate Boston papers all at the same time announcing the show's opening! This may be the apex of Woodward's career. He may never be more visible than he is from 1935's Macbeth New York City show a year earlier to the 1936 BAC, Vose, and Jordan Marsh events.

Regarding the missing four years, note that Woodward remarks that Geraniums and the Mountain exhibits "elsewhere" before being purchased by Mrs. Frelinghuysen. Woodward is notoriously bad at remembering the year a painting was made. He did not start the painting diary until, like, 1942, at the suggestion of Dr. Mark and when Earl Williams heard the idea he encouraged Woodward to do it. Because it was not his idea, he was not into it, but we imagine he felt obligated.

He alludes to the painting being sold later that year (1936) but we know that is not possible. This gap in his memory could be attributed to his not having any knowledge of where the painting was. Here is what we believe happened to the painting for four years... It is Woodward's first year being represented by Vose and his first big show is a week or so after the BAC event.

The Vose Gallery on Boyleston St.

Vose was also instrumental in giving Woodward national exposure lending out many of his paintings to museums all across the country. Vose sends paintings to Clearwater, FL, Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA. Vose also is very active in the International Art Show in Springville, UT, where Woodward exhibits nearly every year from 1937 on through the 1940s.

Woodward also has several paintings tour the country in the 1930 with the American Art Federation's (AFA) traveling exhibits. Many of the paintings that toured with the AFA events have multiple gaps of years between known exhibits. Some as brief as two years and others as many as four years.

Woodward hardly even mentioned these traveling tours specifically other than to say something to the effect, "Exhibited quite generally about the country," (taken from the diary entry for "Aged Roofs"). Because it was out of his hands, he signs a contract and the AFA sets its value for insurance purposes for lost or damage and he gets it back when he gets it back. So he loses track or simply does not know where it traveled.

1936 Brochure for the Springville,
Utah, 15th International Art Exhibit
Enlarge the image to see the inside
listing with RSW and Vose's names...

But we also need to point out that when Woodward makes a remark like, "finally bought" it demonstrates his relief after having gone a long period of time without getting paid. It is these hints in his remarks that tells us how he feels because he will never say so directly. He is passive-aggressive that way. He is not complaining but is sort of quipping about it.

Still, the primary reason we know that painting was NOT sold in 1936 is because Dr. Mark was the delivery man to the Southern Vermont Artist exhibit in Manchester, VT. Dr. Mark did not start working for Woodward until 1938, as well as he did not start driving for Woodward until 1940 (April when he turned 16), and it is Dr. Mark who delivered that paintings Mrs. Frelinghuysen bought as they were being delivered to the SVAA, as you will see from his recollection below.

While we are sure Woodward might send Mark on a quick errand locally before he was legal to drive, we do not believe he would send him on a two plus hour drive across state lines with a butt load of valuable paintings before he was legal. Unfortunately for us, adding to the mystery is that we cannot find either painting bought by Mrs. Frelinghuysen in any of the SVAA brochures we have and the only ones we are missing is all the ones prior to Woodward's second studio fire, the Hiram Woodward Place in 1934, and as our luck would prove poor - the 1936 brochure.

From 1937 to 1952, neither Snowing Outside or Geranium and the Mountain appear in any annual brochure that we have. We are certain at this point that the year was 1940. Did Dr. Mark deliver the paintings early enough for the organizers to update the brochures before the show opened? Otherwise, we cannot explain this or find any reason both paintings would not appear in any brochure... continue ⮟ Below For More ⮟

Woodward sitting in the passenger seat of his
1936 Packard Pheaton Super8 with a young Dr. Mark
and close friend Ethal Dow looking on.

Dr. Mark's Recollection regarding the SVAA:

"It was a proud teenager who in those days drove the big Packard phaeton up to Manchester each year to deliver several Woodward paintings to the exhibition. On two different occasions when the 'summer people' saw the big car arrive they lined up along the walk into the hall to watch me carry paintings in. Twice it happened that someone in the line called out 'I want to buy that one, mark it PAID.' This painting was one of those occasions. So, as soon as I had it hung in its assigned place on the wall I put up a sign 'Purchased, not for sale.' On this occasion the lady also purchased Snowing Outside as well."

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Boston Evening Transcript Magazine, Feb. 28, 1936

Boston Evening Transcript, Magazine, Feb. 29, 1939^✽, by William Germain Dooley

"...it must be said that his single canvas in this show The Geranium and the Mountain, brings his clear cut qualities forcibly to the fore. No New England artist has become a more brilliant realist in his interpretation of the provincial regions. This window view, however, is a sheer bit of bright sunny, unaffected, painting, with clarity even in the depth of color. It is a capstone to his remarkable progress

^✽Date marked at the top of this article ⮞

The article by William Germain Dooley reaps high praise on RSW which is why he remembers it in his painting diary that he does not start until the early 1940's. There is another clipping, no date or source marked, with equally high praise. This painting with very well received by the critics.

These three clippings are from primarily from
unknown sources. The only date we have is from the
headline. A.J. Philpott writes for the Boston Globe. But
the third clipping has no references at all to help us.

⮜ To the left, are three clipping from Woodward's second scrapbook. It was assembled by Woodward himself or at least in his life time. This scrapbook is a mess, with no rhyme or reason to it. It is not at all like his first scrapbook. Read the caption for more...

We want to spend some time on the clipping in the lower right titled, "Flower Paintings Exhibited". it is a glowing review of The Geranium and the Mountain, though the author never names it. It says:

"First let us look at that window painting with the geranium on the inside and the snow covered landscape on the outside. The light is powerful but the whole, complicated arrange-ment is handled in a masterly way. It is a stunning painting."

That is two outstanding reviews for a painting that exhibits along with 92 others Boston Art Club members submissions. It would be no surprise to us if we were to learn for certain that this painting toured the country. But for now, we have to just speculate based on what we know about the artist. What is baffling is how Woodward does not seem to make much of the honor. Perhaps is it the delay in selling it. The AFA is not a broker or dealer, while they promote American Art, they do not sell it to the public. They provide a service.