RSW's Diary Comments

An early KodaChrome photograph of the book
corner inside the the old Boehmer Mill RSW called
"the little shop" taken by F. Earl Williams in late 1930s.

This photo might just be the perspective RSW used
for this painting. He loved that quaint book corner
and note how gray the interior boards are. No other
place RSW owned other than Redgate had such a look
and Regate burned in 1922 with no pics of its interior.

There is no diary comments for this painting. Many of the paintings Woodward sent to Mrs. Henry Everett often were excluded from the artist's painting diary. We have a theory as to why and it is twofold. First is, when Woodward made a painting that was special or had some success, he often made her a version of the scene and perhaps he could not remember all of the times he did this or feared he would mix up which painting was which despite naming them slightly different names. Second is the possibility he did not want a record of multiple versions of the same painting. He did a similar thing with his Los Angeles friend, agent, and interior designer, Harold Grieve, taking advantage of his connections to both coast to sell two paintings of what is in many cases- the same scene. Keep in mind that Woodward solely made his living from painting a rarity in any time period. Yet, he also did not have a lot of other options to earn a living beyond art.. We do not judge him for the practice. It does illustrate his business acumen.

Editor's Note:

We do not know what the subject of this painting is, however, from its name we believe it is probably an interior of the Old Boehmer's Mill he once affectionately called his "Folly." He purchased the place in 1931 while living on the property adjacent to it, The Hiram Woodward Farm. He never used the building for anything in particular (thus the term folly) but we believe he intended to convert it to a showroom for customers to visit and purchase his work without catching him unprepared inside his private studio. The man was very self-conscious about anyone seeing him in anyway less than dapper and well put together which is very difficult when working. It is also why we believe he more frequently referred to it as "the Little Shop," suggesting his intent. Unfortunately, that never worked out because in July of 1934, lightning struck the Hiram Woodward Place burning most of it to the ground.

Woodward kept the old mill after he purchased and moved into the Southwick Place. Later RSW's hopes would be that Dr. Mark would use it for his music shop but that also never materialized as Doc turned his sights to medicine. We do not think either man considered the place for Dr. Mark's country doctor practice, however, Woodward left the beloved folly to his dear cousin Florence who ran her antique business from the property into the 1980s until she retired. Dr. Mark of course converted the carriage house on the Southwick property into his medical practice.

The Book Corner, 1943

There is absolutely no certainty that this painting is an interior of the Boehmer Mill. We are simply going by the description the painting's name provides. We trust it is an interior and it could equally be a barn interior or some other building. Woodward did paint interiors of other peoples' homes, however, two where exclusively part of his study of the Keach Farm and the other two were by commission. Nonetheless still, when considering his own properties, neither the Hiram nor Southwick studios had any gray boards. Both studios were quite warm in their wood tones.

The old mill was another story. Despite being just a little older than Woodward's Southwick studio (formerly a blacksmith shop), the three images we have of its interior, the Kodachrome picture above the painting to the left, and the image below show clearly dry, aged, gray wood. What's more is that both photos and painting feature the same local- the much admired book corner and window from slightly different perspectives. It truly is idyllic, as well as very early American (gray being the most common American spelling) and indicates to us that if it is not this subject. It one this is very similar, like maybe a tack room of a barn or even a sugar house. Those are two subjects he was painting in the late 1920s and early 1930s on a regular basis. For instance, Woodward made a number of painting of the Roscoe sugar house, including its interior, but we do not have any images of them.

Another picture of the Book Corner with
what we believe is a skaters lamp on the sill.

Complicating our theory even more is that in his diary comments for The Book Corner claim that it was, "The first picture I made in the old gray shop..." and some simple deduction tells you that 1935 is before 1943.

Diary Comments from The Book Corner:

"Upright 1943. The first picture I made in the old gray shop, done in the late winter of 1943. Rich in the quaint atmosphere of the dear place. Sold, March, 1944, to the Grand Central Art Galleries for their 1944 Founders' Show."

Nonetheless, Woodward's memories of these things are not very reliable. We point out above that this prized painting has no diary comment. This painting hung at the prestigious Los Angeles Art Association's 1937 "Loan Exhibition" where is hung with the likes of Bellows, Whistler, Henri, Cassat, Blakelock, Inness, Lucioni, Fuller, Kent and Ryder. He even has the event's program in his private papers! How do you not write a diary comment about a painting (1) owned by Everett, (2) it exhibited at a show he has the program of and, that will later be given to the Pasadena Museum of Art as part of Everett's Collection there?

The cover for the Los Angeles Art Ass-
ociation's program for its 1937 "Loan Exhibi-
tion," featuring paintings lent by collectors.

We are asking these questions rhetorically. Until we actually locate the painting (the Pasadena MoA merged with another museum and evolved into the Norton Simon Museum which can be seen during the broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade). Its whereabouts are currently unknown and thus its subject is also a mystery.

Adding to our argument, which is not going great so far, is the fact that the painting, The Book Corner, was sold to the Grand Central Art Galleries' Founders' show which is the association's annual fundraising event where it buys the best of the best of its members art work and re-sells it for a profit. It is an honor to have your work purchased for the event, indicating how Woodward felt about its subject. It was important to him. We made a similar argument for Unnamed: A Hill Road; Heath when Woodward made no mention of previously painting an earlier painting from the same location in his painting diary for the award winning A Hill Road.

Woodward uses both spellings of Gray (American spelling) and Grey (British spelling). The Chicago Manual of Style says it is okay to use both spellings in a manuscript so long as its meaning remains consistent. We cannot say for sure if the artist is following this practice or not because we have not discovered a distinct pattern in its usage of the spelling one way or another.