Quick Reference

Time Period:
Painted 1934.

Location:
Unknown

Medium:
Oil on Canvas

Type:
Landscape

Category:
Farms

Size:
25 X 30

Exhibited:
Unknown

Purchased:
Presented as a gift
to Harold Grieve.

Provenance:
N/A

Noteworthy:

Same subject as Courage and Peace but in a much smaller size.

Related Links



Featured Artwork: Peace and Courage

RSW's Diary Comments

"Painted in the studio 1934. A smaller canvas I painted from the 36 x 42 Courage and Peace (which see) for the sole purpose of presenting it to Harold W. Grieve, the noted decorator of Hollywood, California in appreciation for much indeed."



Additional Notes

Painting hanging above fireplace
Painting hanging above fireplace

See also Courage and Peace for a related piece of work. Peace and Courage is a copy made from Courage and Peace for Woodward's good friend Harold Grieve, noted interior designer and set designer in Hollywood, CA.


To the right: is a photograph of the painting hanging on the wall of Harold Grieve's, home.


For more about the farm and it's famous resident bulls, "Mack," the lagest ox in the world at the time and "Teddy," together considered the "Best Pair of Oxen in the World CLICK HERE


In April 1928, Jeanette Matthews description of Near the Sky bares a striking resemblance to the piece Courage and Peace and Peace and Courage. It may very well be an earlier version, but we cannot say for certain her description is the Avery Farm. See her description below...


Springfield Union, by Jeanette Matthews

"Because it has the place of honor, because it treats of a theme that has also been done in crayon and because it really is the most moving canvas in the show, 'Near the Sky' ought to be considered. I have remarked before that Mr. Woodward shows more gift for naming his pictures than is usual among artists. This is a particularly felicitous title. It is a bare winter scene in the hills where one looks across the buildings of a farm, buildings set end to end so that they make a straight line across the picture parallel with the cold hills behind them. Such immensity of sky it would seem impossible to get into even a big canvas like this. It is stark and cold and bare in that picture, but it leaves you tingling because it is 'near the sky.' The crayon from the same theme is softer, just a shade softer in the blue of the hills, a hint less compelling, more to be lived with when one's courage is not quite at top notch and that one Mr. Woodward calls New England! Winter." [Emphasis added by staff.]


Side by Side Comparison

Besides the obvious difference in size, Courage and Peace (36 x 42) has numerous contexual differences with Peace and Courage (25 x 30) noted below in the side by side images. We do not have a reason for these differences. Woodward was known to do this from time to time with copies, most noteably The Greening Tree (16 x 20) and The Greening Tree (27 x 30).


A side by side comparison of Courage and Peace with Peace and Courage
A side by side comparison of Peace and Courage (left) with Courage and Peace (right)