Featured Artwork: Unfinished: Driven Snow

The canvas edge and nails, by all appearances,
looks to be the same materials found on any other
Woodward stretcher. How it ended up in the basement
and unfinished for that matter is unknown to us.

This small painting was found many years ago in the basement of the Southwick home. It was moved and got lost for a period of time until it was recently found in the barn.

It is a small canvas, 20" x 17", which suggest to us it was intended as a gift to someone. All of Woodward's professional paintings were at least 23" or bigger. All of his paintings under 20 inches are gifts to friends or people who did something nice for him.

The painting appears unfinished. You can see it best on the lower right hand side, the rocks are not defined at all. But the tire tracks in the snow are great!

Unnamed: Above the Winter Hills
You can also see When Spring Comes for
a similar view of the hills without the snow

Even unfinshed this is a nice little painting. For us, its location feels a lot like Unnamed: Above the Winter Hills which suggest it could have been painted on Burrington Hill Road in Heath (MA) looking south with the Buckland Hills just to the east (left).

One last thing on Woodward's gift paintings. Not only were they smaller than his professional works but he seemed to paint them with an intentional "less than his best" quality. We suspect it was because he did not want anyone to turn around and make money off his gift. We do not know what to make of this or what it says about Woodward. Perhaps there was somebody who received a generous gift from Woodward and then turned around and sold it. Woodward was incredibly protective of his brand but to give this "less than his best" on a gift to ensure they didn't profit from it is comical in many ways. Especially for how picky he was that something met his high standards.

A Question by Brian:

A close up of the shadow

As I was just about to wrap up this page I saw something in the low right-hand corner that gave me pause. I do not know if it is that I am simply blurry-eyed from assembling this page or if this is actually something... Does that shadow (seen to the right) appear to be the outline of a man? Perhaps Woodward himself? Maybe Fabian or another attendant? The reason I ask is because I do not believe there is another example of Woodward inserting himself into his work, or by extension one of his attendants. What do you think? Write me and let me know...

moc.drawdoowgnortstrebor@nairb / Subject: "Shadow"