RSW's Diary Comments

There are no diary entries for a painting by this name.

Editor's Note:

The label from the back of the frame
The image above has been flipped 180 degrees so that
we can show you the label on the frame which is on the
bottom of the frame and thus upside down. As you can
see the label is from the National Academy of Design,
with a large "18" in ink written on it. It is unclear what
year this is because the only other NAD label we have
an image of is The Golden Barn, 1918, and the labels
DO NOT match! So all we can say with confidence is it
is not 1918. The frame could be from 1919 thru 1930.
See below for the comparison of the labels together...

Click on the image to enlarge and see the graphics we
added labeling what you are looking at around the label.

It is difficult to know where to begin. We have great reservations about the name on the label on the back of the frame matching this scene of the painting itself. We do not believe this painting's name is "Gold."

Our reasons are more than just the scene not matching the name. It is also the fact the label seen to the right is (1) nailed to the frame, not the stretcher where RSW usually wrote the name. The artist often kept extra frames on his studio of his standard size paintings. Not only that, he was known to pop a painting out of a frame and into another if the customer didn't like the frame. (2) the stretcher cannot be examined for a name because the SVAC, at some time, had to re-stretch and secure the painting with a new stretcher. They also added supporting mesh textile and lots of glue making it prohibitive to see the original stretcher if in fact it is still in its original stretcher. In the end, we believe the painting was re-framed with the frame from another painting by the name of Gold.

With that being said, We know nothing else about what could possibly the subject of this painting or what year it hung at the National Academy of Design. For now we will keep the image above in place.

The Nation Academy of Design Labels

TO THE LEFT:

Here we have the two Nation Academy of Design (NAD) labels side by side and it is clear they are not from the same batch of labels. We imagine the NAD would have ordered the labels in bulk from professional printers, perhaps a thousand at a time. So one label couls last a couple of years. The NAD usually holds two exhibits a year, their big one in March just in time for spring and another, smaller show, Woodward referred to as their "Winter Exhibition" held between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas- just in time for holiday shopping.

The top label is what remains from the back of the painting, The Golden Barn, which we know for certain was Woodward's first entry into the spring NAD event in March of 1918.

The bottom label is from the frame surrounding the painting seen above. Its year is unknown and the written in ink "18" on the label holds no known meaning to us.

The stamp on the unknown label is illegible and cannot be read. It could simply be a shipping receiving area stamp or it is similar to postmark stamp with a date on it. We zoomed in as close as one can get to try and make out anything and got zilch.

The differences between the two labels are multiple. The unknown label does not has an area for the artist name or address. The disclaimer printed on the labels are the same but placed differently on the labels themselves. Finally, the unknown label's title line is different than the known 1918 lable and has added instructions place firmly in the center.