RSW's Diary Comments

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A topographic map of Mount Aeolus
illustrating his approximate location when painting
this oil and drawing Aeolus: Home of the Winds

This unnamed and unsigned painting was left in the Southwick Studio store room at the death of RSW. It was framed and hung on a bedroom wall in the Southwick House where it has been much loved for these many years. It is perhaps a painting he painted near the end of his career or it sat in his storage area for a considerable time. We cannot be sure. Often, paintings that sat idle in his storage bin were somehow incomplete or he was dissatisfied for one reason or another but he kept it with the hope of re-painting it or fixing the issue. Yet still, we cannot identify any irregularities. It is a beautiful painting of what we believe is Mount Aeolus in Dorset, VT.

To the right is topographic map of Mount Aeolus. We added graphics to estimate the location from where Woodward painted this scene. What you cannot see from this map are the many small roads leading to these locations. When you zoom out on the map, the small roads disappear. Nonetheless, there is a road that travels up the valley north of Aeolus and sits at about 1500 feet in elevation. The shoulder ridge seen being crossed by the arrow is the hill-like form in the painting's foreground.

Included in our graphic is the approximate location of where Woodward drew the chalk drawing, Aeolus: Home of the Winds, with the location of the quarry (still cited on modern maps) marked because again it disappears when you zoom out.