RSW's Diary Comments

Through October Hills, 1943, the 2nd painting

"Painted about 1944-5. Several paintings similar to this I made in the studio the winter of 1944 '5. The description under Through October Hills (which see) applies to this picture too, although the composition is somewhat different with the stone wall in Through October Hills, for instance, much more prominent. Sold Dec. '53 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Abbott of Braintree, Mass."

Editor's Note:

We had the owner of the third painting measure it confirming it is not the size (22" x 38") Woodward claimed is the size of the painting above. The size measured out to exactly what we expected, 22" x 36", or two inches less than Through October Hills. See the illustration below for additional information.

In October Hills, 1942, the 1st painting

We have a theory about the second painting Through October Hills, and as to why it is so different in size and perspective than the painting above and even the first painting... it is the prospective customer from the Vose Gallery. We believe the size, the closer perspective, the more prominent stonewall and even the change in the group of trees from the first painting where specifications given by the client who in the end, still did not buy the painting!

With that being said, this would make the third painting of this page's subject Woodward's preferred perspective and truer to his intent as to the aesthetic he initially selected in his first composition. It is almost as if he HAD to make the painting above to "right" the previous painting.

What you are looking at here is a transparent color image of the 22" x 36" New England in October overlaid on
top of the black and white sepia print of the 22" x 38" Through October Hills. We used the tree trunk (1) and roadside
rock (2) as the anchors for which we aligned the two images thus exposing their differences. You can see how closely aligned the tree and rock are because they are more focused then the rest of the illustration. The farther you get from the tree and rock reveals just how different the two paintings really are. In fact, we believe the biggest difference is that Through October Hills (the second painting) is a closer vantage point to the subject than both the first and third paintings. The hill, the stonewall (3) and trees in the field are all larger and "more prominent" than they are in the color
image of New England in October (the third painting). What cinched it for us was how nicely the two images lined up with the cuts in the field (4) on the right hand side of the painting. We consider it more than coincidental. It ties it up.