Featured Artwork: Peace on the Hills

Inexplicably, considering how well reviewed this painting was, there is no painting diary entry for it.

Winter Song, 1939; the shoulder of Mary Lyon Hill
painted from across the Clesson Valley on Orcutt Hill.

Editor's Note:

We enjoy selecting a painting to offer you a sense of what a painting with no image may be similar to aesthetically. However, with this painting name we are at a loss. Most paintings using "peace" or "grace" in the name are of homey themes, or objects. Hills can certainly be peaceful, but the artist tended to focus on their drama, with a few exceptions. Still, the one that stands out the most for us is the painting Winter Song seen to the right. Winter Song was made around the same time and sent to San Francisco's Golden Gate Exposition in 1939 for his friend Harold Grieve an organizer of the event.


Other paintings that exudes peaceful hills are When Spring Comes or Hill And Valley and Mountains in Summer is not a bad option either.

New York Herald Tribune, August 28, 1938, by Royal Cortissoz

New York Herald Tribune, August 28, 1938

"Mr. Woodward, I may note in passing, is, as usual, versatile, and one of his best things is virtually a still life, 'Glass and Snow.' He reaches his peak, however, imparting a trace or grandeur to his picture in the fine landscape, 'Peace on the Hills."

The Manchester (VT) Journal, September 1, 1938

Robert Strong Woodward always sends such fine numbers to the show. His work adds much to the tone of the entire exhibit. The expanse of view, with distant mountains and the light and shade in 'Peace of the Hills'.

The Manchester (VT) Journal

September 1, 1938

When you enlarge the Manchester Journal article, you will see the headline which is fascinating. It is long with lots of facts. The two most outstanding are (1) that 443 paintings were exhibited, and (2) that in the first couple of days more than 2,200 people visited. Furthermore, illustrating just how big this event had become in just its ten years in existence, Royal Cortissoz, reports that the previous year's show hauled in $16,000 from sales. That is over $357,700 today's dollar, for VERMONT!