RSW's Diary Comments

"Painted in 1934. A large, dramatic painting made from the roadside at Manchester near Mr. Naughten's. About the last canvas finished before my fatal fire and the first thing I asked about, when told of the fire by Bob Haeberle in Greenfield, that evening."

New York Times, Feb. 10, 1935 by Howard Devree

"......The Mount Equinox in April gives testimony to the closeness of the artist's observance of light and shadow and the bluish undertones in the roughed-up snow in the foreground traces of the picturesque and even of the sentimental are the more easily forgiven for the assurance of the very honest well-springs of motivation in these relatively low-keyed scenes."

New York Herald Tribune, Sun. Sept. 2, 1934

"..... Mount Equinox in April, it is called. There are trees and fields in the foreground but the factor that makes the picture is the grand bulk of the mountain, one of nature's monuments in line and mass. It is an austere picture and a good one, save, perhaps; for a rather too abrupt transition from the nearer details to the bare simplicity that looms beyond. Now its austerity is softened, however, by the peculiar friendliness of sentiment which in some indefinable manner is always present in the Vermont scene, thick webs of trees veiling the ruggedness of the hills, and, playing over hill and valley, an incessant enchantment of light and shade.'

The "Before" and "After" restoration of this painting..

This painting is privately owned.

Restored at Williamstown Conservation Center, Williamstown, MA in 2010

A smaller 25 x 30 oil was also made of this scene and has the same name.

To the right: An illustration of the before and after restoration of this painting.