"Painted in 1943 - 44. An ice rimmed black winter snowbound stream flowing into dark tangled winter woods at evening time (just a glint of sunset showing through the tree boles and slightly reflecting in the stream), a heavy clump of winter beech tangle to the right of the canvas with clusters of the winter beech leaves (flesh colored) topped by an occasional touch of snow. A new canvas I made from a similar theme out of 'Redgate' woods in early days (the canvas owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Lee of Manchester, Vt., being one of them). Composed and painted in the studio from an old canvas (25 x 30) after which I destroyed the old canvas. Bought from the studio in the fall of 1945 by Mrs. Roger R. Smith of 75 Elm Street, Gardner, Mass. (who owns 3 other of my canvases) and named by her Tranquility. A canvas very perfect, technically."
This painting was purchased from the 1944 Mr. & Mrs. Roger Smith Exhibition. A private exhibition of remarkable painting arranged by F. Earl Williams. Go to the bottom of this page for more...
This painting is one of a number of "re-paintings" Woodward made between 1938 to 1945 of old canvases he had saved since
his early Redgate years (1917 - 1922). The old paintings were saved because he liked the subject matter but was not quite satisfied with it for one reason or another.
We are the
better for it! It is a treat to see a Quintessential Redgate painting that it NOT a true Redgate painting but made long
after Woodward left the heavily impressionistic impasti-style behind him for the soothing, blended and soft realism of his mature years.
What's more is these paintings
give us a glimpse into the "glow" of these paintings not always perserved in the originals. Many of Woodward's early "dark woods" paintings yellowed, then darkened as they aged due
to a varnish he used to perserve the paintings. This vanished also shrank and hardened over time and became very brittle causing some of the cracking you may see in some of his
early paintings.
To the right: is a photograph of Tranquility
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 photographer 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 Woodward's paintings in a private residence.
This painting however, was NOT for sale. It had already been purchased by the Gardner High School, class of 1939, as a gift to the school.
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
A Mountain Farm, April Sun and Frost on the Window,
Portrait of a Shadow and From a Mountain Farm,
A Winter Song* and The Big Chimney*, then there is the chalk
drawing The Road Home, the oil A Winter Afternoon and other
chalk Mountain Meadow together and then The Little Red Barn as another
solo image.
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.