RSW's Diary Comments

Through Winter Pines

The following diary comments are attributed to this painting name, however, we believe this to be incorrect. There is no other record (but in the diary) of this painting and so we believe RSW incorrectly recalled its name:

"Painted in 1933. A sled tracked, woodland winter road, running through typical N. E. woods of pine, hemlock. laurel etc. Painted the winter before my last fire. (Painted from my big sled which takes wheelchair, easel, et al) on the wood road just back of Burnham's cottage (now March's cottage beside the shop property). One of my most perfectly painted canvases of which I am truly proud. Bought around 1934 by Mrs. Lucius Potter, 87 Franklin St. Greenfield, Mass. Always pleased it hung in one of Greenfield's most beautiful homes. But when in 1946 Mrs. Lucius Potter from the studio bought The Green Bottle and the Barn (which see) I learned she had recently given it to a dear friend who fell in love with it, whose house is in Hartford, Ct, I believe. So I am not certain of its eventual ownership but data could probably be obtained from Mrs. Potter."

As mentioned above, there is no other record of the existence of this painting other than RSW's listing it in his diary. Since Woodward did not begin to compile a painting diary until around 1942- '43, he did so almost entirely from memory. Over the years we have discovered numerous errors in the diary and it is most likely he recalled the name wrong. The sepia print image above was labeled as Through Winter Pines and Through Winter Pines is listed in the exhibition list as having exhibited 5 times throughout 1933 and the early part of 1934. This page will remain as part of the gallery at the slimest chance that he did, in fact, paint a similar painting and named it Through Winter Woods. It was not an uncommon practice for him to do so.