RSW's Diary Comments

• Woodward did not keep records of the pastels he called "chalk drawings."

Springfield Republican, Apr. 25, 1928
Click on the HEADLINE to see the whole article

This piece was exhibited at the 1928 J. H. Miller Co. Galleries Exhibition along with 37 other paintings and chalk drawings. Click on the article to the right to see the full article.

We are not sure how this chalk drawing could have been overlooked by art critic Jeanette Matthews. It is one of the website staffs' favorite pastels. But it is also unique for Woodward to use so much abstraction and impressionism in his drawings. The golden yellow squiggles throughout the drawing luminates the subject joyfully.

In The Sugar House; Boiling

This is also an interesting time period for Woodward. He is just getting his career back on track after his disastrous Redgate fire in 1922. He is experimenting quite a bit with new styles and techniques as well as putting a great deal of effort into his chalk drawings. Through 1927 to 1928, he would actually draw more pastel paintings than he would paint oil paintings. He is also particularly interested in sugaring. He would created the majority of his sugaring paintings during these years starting with the award winning When Drifts Melt Fast in the winter of 1926-'27 to 1930 with the interior In The Sugar House; Boiling. It is also the time period where Woodward does most of his "interior" painting that are NOT window picture paintings.

Finally, according to our records, from 1927 through 1929, we know of 65 new chalk drawings versus just 40 new oil paintings. The 1928 J.H. Miller exhibit would be the first to feature a significant number of pastels (16) leading up to the 1929 exclusive exhibition of chalk drawings at the Pynchon Gallery in Springfield. For whatever reason, Woodward never exhibited at the Miller galleries again.