RSW's Diary Comments

Mountain Meadow, 1944, a composite
painting using the road from Wind'll Blow Hill and the
farm, hill, and fields of Just After Haying Time

"Painted 1933. Made of the Clark farm on road from Charlemont to Hawley. Shown at my first exhibition at the Vose Gallery in Boston and so liked by Mr. Thompson, (more than any other canvas of mine). He has kept it at the gallery, up to now--1941) sending it out for exhibition to many places in attempt to sell it. Sold 1943 by Vose Galleries to Public Library of Franklin, New Hampshire (same as After Early Frost.)."

Editor's Note:

The scene of this painting was used as part of what Woodward called composite paintings, where he takes a piece of a scene from multiple paintings and assembles them into a landscape that leans a bit toward the romantic (to the right).

We feel we need to clarify Woodward's remarks. 1936 is the first year Vose becomes Woodward's Boston dealer. He says as much in separate notes:

However, this painting does not appear on the list of Woodward's first show at Vose in January 1936. It appears in a much larger show held later in April. We are assuming Mr. Thompson is the gallery's manager. The fact that he likes the painting so much it hangs in the gallery for nearly 7 years implies Mr. Thompson took ownership of the paintings legacy. This is important. It means that it took that long to sell it because it was important to find the best price and home for it.

Franklin Library, Franklin, NH

This painting can still be found at the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, New Hampshire. It is not often you find a public library of this size sparing the expense of buying artwork but they did. In 1943, Vose Galleries of Boston sold this painting and After Early Frost to the library. Actually there are a number of wonderful paintings found at the library including, one of Andrew Carnegie and another of Benjamin Franklin. It is worth the stop if you ever find yourself in the area.

The Harry and Ethel Clark homestead in East Hawley.

To see a sketch made of this scene from the road to the farm prior to the making of the oil painting please CLICK HERE.

Faceplate on the frame

RSW signature, found in the lower right

A close up of the farm and the person in the field

An image of the sketch Just After Haying Time