RSW's Diary Comments

Spring Thaw Sepia

"Painted in winter of 1941. Made in the studio from one of my very early paintings (loaned to Julia Wells Rea) so there's an old one and a new one. Painted from halfway up Town Farm Hill, a muddy road, edged with flowing thaw water, all dipping down steeply through large spring maples."

Comments on the back of a sepia print:

"A very poor 'hard' photograph of a very atmospheric delicate spring landscape. Rose, gray violet, white, with thaw, water at roadsides reflecting blue. (Now hanging at Myles Standish Hotel in Boston but quickly obtainable.)"

Editor's Note:

It has alluded us for years that there are two existing versions of this painting and we only have one artwork page. Typically, Woodward would destroy the original after re-painting an early canvas but not in this case. He had given the original to his cousin Julia, another significant statement. yes, he says he lent it her. He is so funny when it comes to this sort of stuff but he is never going to ask for it back. He is simply making it clear it was a gift and that she doesn't own it. Julia is nearly as important to Woodward as his cousin Florence. Julia worked for Woodward through the 1930s.

The Road to Church

This 24" x 36" oil painting was made by RSW at the top of Town Farm Hill (now the beginning of Charlemont Road) in Buckland Center, looking down the hill toward the Mary Lyon church. He had previously made a 25 x 30 painting from the same spot which he had given away to another close friend. This is mentioned in his diary. In those days this road was unpaved and would get very rutted during "frost season" in the spring. The distant crease in the mountain beyond, just under the left branches of the old maple tree, was caused by the Hog Hollow Road headed over to East Buckland and on to the Mary Lyon birthplace. This mountain is the shoulder of Putt's Hill, a famous Buckland landmark.

— MLP (2014)

Maple Guardians, 1952 (enlarge to see illustration)

Editor's Note:

The two pictures, The Road to Church (above ⮝) and Maple Guardians (right ⮞), are both scenes Woodward painted from the same road. He calls it "Old Town Farm Road" but today it is known as Charlemont Road. The Road to Church is the scene just after the view from Maple Guardians and features the Mary Lyon Church at the road's end. In fact, the roof of the house you see in Maple Guardians, is the house whose driveway Woodward made The Road to Church. If you are having trouble seeing the roof, enlarge the image. We illustrated it for you... What's more is the two maples of Maple Guardians are the first maple of Spring Thaw!

A Winter Day, 1938 (enlarge to see illustration)

Neither of the previous paintings give us a view of the section of Charlemont Road Woodward positioned himself to paint Spring Thaw and yet we still have options... the best being A Winter Day (1938) to the left. A Winter Day is painted from a farm just off Charlemont Rd. looking southeast towards Mary Lyon's Hill. A Winter Day actually shows the dip seen in the painting above. It is just after one passes Avery Road (to the right traveling east) where the old town farm building use to stand (on the left side of the road). The building is visible in A Winter Day. Charlemont Rd. is very much like a roller coaster, with its ups and downs.

A close up of Spring Thaw shows a road and
farm in the distance that we already know very well.

The best thing about this painting are the hills in the distance. Woodward captured a remarkable vantage point getting Putt's (Putnam) Hill in the foreground. The road you see crossing Putt's Hill is Hog Hallow Road and if you look real close, you will see the impression of a row of building we believe is the same farm seen in New England Drama ⮟ and A Buckland Farm!

New England Drama, 1930, Gold Medal Award
winner of the farm on Hog Hallow Rd.

Just behind Putt's Hill is Johnson Hill a bit to the north and behind that is Crittenden Hill. That peak you see is NOT Putt's Hill (Putt's Hill's peak in farther south) but rather, Goodnow Hill BEHIND Putt's Hill. The height of that portion of Putt's Hill is just 1000ft and Johnson Hill's peak nearby is 1014ft but Goodnow Hill rises another 230ft higher than both.

The significance of Woodward painting a version of this scene early in his career and then re-painting it in the time he was doing that sort of thing (1938 - 1945) and not destroying the original but giving it to family cannot be stressed more its importance.

A topographical map of the area. We added stars showing the locations where Woodward sat, the old town farm and the location of the Mary Lyon Church. The arrow shows the direction Woodward is looking and all three hill names are circled. The orange line follows the path of Charlemont Road.