RSW's Diary Comments

Boston Globe, March 10, 1931, by A.J. Philpott
The caption of the above article is incorrect. The pic-
ture in the painting is Portrait of a Shadow which
also exhibited at the 1931 Myles Standish Gallery.

"Painted 1931 or '32. A canvas I have loved myself and admired more than any other I ever made. Very much exhibited and praised canvas but for some strange reason one that has never sold up to this writing (1942). Painted from the lower field of the Stetson farm in West Hawley, of the back of the little farm house just below the Stetson place. Sold Nov. 1943, to Miss Esther Garbose of Gardner, Mass."

Editor's Note:

For years this painting was believed to be initially named, The Little Farmhouse, however, it has since been proven to be a mistake. For the whole story see, The Little Farmhouse. To summarize here, Woodward told the story to two art critics about how he "almost" named this painting The Little Farmhouse. The story confused the critics because the artist DID name a painting by that name, and it has been proven to be a wintery scene. Besides, Portrait of a Shadow hung two months prior in New York City at the Grand Central Art Galleries, months before The Little Farmhouse hung at the Myles Standish Gallery in Boston. Confusing matters even more Portrait of a Shadow ALSO hung at Myles the same month but was not on the exhibition like most likely because it was again confused with The Little Farmhouse, so much so that it was mistakenly captioned by the newspaper.

The picture above is of the March 1931 Myles Standish Gallery Exhibition. We know this because (1) we have other pictures of the gallery that are labeled "Myles Standish." But also (2) we know it is March and not February's show because of the combination of paintings. For instance, When Sap Runs only hung with Keach's Stove in March. From there we check off the other recognizable paintings for matches which we did not do too well. The problem is the bright light coming in from the windows of the gallery are blowing out some of the canvases. The one we think might be Portrait of a Shadow was determined by the the contrasting positions of the light and dark objects. You can see how bright the light is on the painting by looking below the frame. That is as "hot" as need be to neutralize most of the elements except the darkest of darks. Still, there is dark where you expect to see dark especially the shadow near the middle. We had the same problem with White Clouds and used the same techniques.

Portrait of a Shadow Sepia Print

This is one of Woodward's most loved paintings. He says as much, but like his perhaps second favorite canvas, Mrs. Keach's Front Porch or third The Old House and The Young Tree the critics did not swoon over it as much as they did, The Little Farmhouse which was mention in a few columns at shows it appeared. It never got the praise The Old House and The Young Tree did when it hung at Boston's Society of Contemporary Artists inaugural show in January of 1930, or holds nearly the charm of Mrs. Keach's Front Porch. In fact, Portrait of a Shadow is not singled out once on its own. It is only mentioned with other paintings and not just once but three times. There is something else to it we are not seeing and Woodward is not telling. He'd prefer we discover it on our own anyway.

A close up of man and his shadow.

Do not get us wrong. We love the painting. First, it is an intimate portrait of a New England homestead, weathered by time and the elements common in Woodward's work. There is also a person in the painting on the side of the house by the window. He is casting a shadow much like the home itself suggesting a mirrored reflection of home and owner. It is perhaps this that makes it special to the artist as home is often the personification of the individual living in it. We have trees and stonewalls with an imposing hill but what makes the scene is (1) the time of day. It is later in the day than the norm for Woodward but also (2) it is a November subject. A setting sun in the west casting its shadow over man and home - in November. This is one of the artist most poetic paintings in name and subject.

A man kicked-back sitting on a chair from with a
chicken and his dog from Passing New England (1933)

The title, Portrait of a Shadow, could be the title of a book by, Hawthorne, Yeats, or Wilde. It is wonderful allegory suggesting that the homestead, its owner, month, and time of day are all aligned in the same phase of age. Yet it is bright and almost cheerful in its presentation. November is the month of retirement, of respite from an impending end. Late afternoon, is a time of little things to wrap up your day. The hard work has already been done. Preparation for tomorrow might be done at this time and in November this could be as late as 4:00 pm, with evening coming soon.This is all imagery of what Woodward often celebrated. The question is why? we believe that in a number of ways, Woodward felt "retired" from the life he had envisioned, and his painting career, the only thing left to him at a point, is what he did with his figurative retirement from his commercial career.

Silver Barn, 1945 The Stetson Farm barn in
West Hawley neighboring the homestead seen in the
painting, Portrait of a Shadow See Below ⮟

This imagery shows itself over and over again in so many of his paintings. His Winter Evening Stream paintings and his early wooded interiors where often made at dusk as the sun sets and moon rises. His homes where people are visible. Most of them are resting or doing something mundane like bringing milk to a cat. In Passing New England there is literally a man on a chair kicked back leaning against a wall just inside his garage. He looks like he made be whittling something.

There are still two more sections below. We have a letter Woodward wrote to Vera Stetson a neighbor of the subject of the painting with the hope she show her neighbor the clipping he added in the letter with the neighbor. That is followed by the story of the 1943, Smith Home exhibit in Gardner, MA, featuring a number of the artist's most admired canvases, including Portrait of a Shadow.

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Vera Stetson Letter Re: Portrait of a Shadow

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The 1944 Mr. & Mrs. Roger Smith Exhibition:

Portrait of a Shadow and A Mountain Farm hanging
in the home of Roger Smith for a private exhibition

To the right: is a photograph of Portrait of a Shadow, along with From a Mountain Farm hanging on the wall for a private exhibition in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Roger Smith of Gardner, MA, December, 1944. The picture was taken by Woodward friend, educator, and amateur photo-grapher F. Earl Williams. Williams was once the principal of Gardner High School and so we believe he had something to do with arranging this rare exhibition of Wood-ward's paintings in a private residence. The three missing photographs are New England Impressions*, Winter Farms, and From the North Window*. The paintings photographed are as follows in pairs: Portrait of a Shadow and From a Mountain Farm*, April Sun and Frost on the Window, A Winter Song* and The Big Chimney*, there is the chalk drawing The Road Home, the oil A Winter Afternoon and other chalk Mountain Meadow together and then Tranquility, and The Little Red Barn* as singles.

And what an exhibition! Worthy of any New York or Boston Gallery, it featured a number of Woodward's most exhibited editorial paintings going back as far as 1935.[noted by an asterisk*] Two of the paintings hanging at the exhibit, A Winter Song and New England Impression previously hung at the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco and the 1939 New York World's Fair respectively.