RSW's Diary Comments

This grainy old picture of the Hiram Woodward
studio from the rear of the large shed shows the sub-
ject of this painting from a distance for reference.
Enlarge the picture for the rest of the scene...

"Painted about 1932. This has in the past been titled both Under the Studio Window and Under the Study Window. The outside of the old studio window (that burnt) done the last fall before the fire, geraniums and camphor geranium in the fore ground while through the window glass itself one sees an inside shelf geranium, through the room a suggestion of looking out the north window across the room. An outside corner of the old studio, where it jutted out to the south and west, a very decorative and much liked canvas, but never sold, possibly because of its size, an upright 30" x 36". Very rich and gay in color, a great favorite when shown in my studio but it is a 30" x 36" NOT 25" x 30". It is a painting of which I am proud."

Editor's Note:

It is unclear to us whether or not this is one painting with three names or if there are others. We are leaning to the former. For one thing, when talking about the reason he thinks the painting never sold was its size, the reason is very singular. We have plenty of example when RSW made multiple version of a scene, each one different than the other and this distinction is most always their sizes. So if he thought this did not sell because it was not a 25" x 30" canvas, than why not make a 25" x 30"?

This painting under its various names was very well reviewed as you will see below. This is not the only painting special, much admired by the artist, and well reviewed to not sell. See The Old House and The Young Tree, a more editorial piece than the painting above.

⮟ Below are two painting of the interior studio window corner. In both you can see the red skaters lamp also seen in the painting above. ⮟

My Winter Shelf

The South Window, 1928

The Boston Herald, October 11,
1932, by critic Albert Franz Cochrane

• "Selected by Mr. Edward Pettis as his Legacy Choice, September 8, 1957."

⮝ We do not know what this means. Its source is Dr. Mark, so we will keep it here because it indicates some sort of honor. With that being said, it is worth noting that Mr. Pettis and his wife Win, were among Woodward's best customers buying several paintings. We do not know anything else about them.

Boston Globe, March 10, 1931, by A.J. Philpott

"Under the Study Window is a beautiful bit of a flower garden up against a house-full of sunlight, of rich color and delicate greens."

From clipping of unknown source and date (probably 1931):

""Under the Study Window is original in design, boldly laid in and rich in color."

Springfield Republican, Letter to the Editor: by Margaret C. Whiting, Deerfield, May 30, 1932

"...the lovely canvas called Under the Study Window, where the sunlight of out-of-doors is subtly contrasted with the indoor shadows seen through the window of the house."

⮜ The Boston Herald, October 11, 1932 by critic Albert Franz Cochrane

"Decorative, although harder, is the gay, patterning flower garden that blooms, Under the Study Window."

Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 11, 1932

"There is more gaiety in the red geraniums massed so happily Under the Studio Window..."