RSW's Diary Comments

The River in May, c. 1923: is from the same spot
on W. Hawley Rd. in Charlemont just after the bridge
where S. River Rd. ends on the south side of the river.
In this painting, RSW is farther back from the group
of rocks on the near side left river than in Silent River

• There is no entry for this painting in the painting diary. While it is not uncommon for paintings made before 1925, it is even rarer for paintings made in 1918. We wonder how much his fires in 1922 and 1934 are the reason. We know he mostly wrote his painting diary from memory in the 1940s but how many paintings were forgotten because the business ledgers were lost as well?

Editor's Note:

We have two painting, very similar in appearance with some obvious differences and others more subtle. The most apparent is the time of year. This painting is past autumn's peak by a couple weeks and must be mid-to-late November. Since we have seen this painting in person and can confirm it is dated 1918 after his signature (as RSW did with all known 1918 and many 1919 paintings), the fact the he returned four years later is no surprise. We know of three other examples of the artist returning to a location to paint it again. However, three of those four, were more than a decade later. Because the brushwork is similar, yet different enough to be distinct, it suggest to us his appreciation of the scene. Still, as a group, Woodward did not paint more than a dozen Deerfield River paintings and a third of those were of the Charlemont's old covered bridge AFTER it was destroyed in the devastating hurricane of 1938.

We wonder if these two canvases were meant to be a comparison in contrast. Spring is the artist least covered season because the thaw makes travel very difficult for him and November one of his favorite months. CONTINUED BELOW ⮟

An illustration of the area we believe RSW sat

⮜ The illustration to the left highlights the area we believe Woodward painted. Our reasoning is simple, the hills are not big enough to be further west and just big enough to be further east. Also note on the map we captured there are flat spots meeting fairly strong slopes. There is also the right spot of a zig and zag of the river with a matching ridge line.

Woodward's signature followed by 1918. We apolo-
gize for the poor quality of the image. This is a very
busy painting with heavy impasto brushwork.

Another 1918 Signature. We believe this painting...

...and this one were earlier than the one above ⮝

⮟ For your convenience we provide you a side by side comparison of both canvases ⮟

Silent River

The River in May