[Image, Top of page] A pencil sketch of trees

STYLE

Robert Strong Woodward captured on canvas most men's feelings for New England. It's rugged simplicity surrounded him as a boy and beckoned him to discover and understand that which so many people ignore. Part of his success might be attributed to his limited himself to a small area and the "wealth of material in his own backyard." As Henri Matisse said: "an American should learn his metier and work in America." Woodward's natural ability, perceptive eye and deep feeling for his native hills account for his recognition as an artist.

He was largely self-taught, spending only a few months in 1912 at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Three years later, at the age of 30, he first took up the brush as a means of support. He spent that three-year period at the home of his uncle and aunt in Buckland. Working in his Redgate studio there, he made illuminations, and heraldic devices, did lettering, and designed bookplates in an...