Featured Artwork: The Surprise

Handwritten note by Woodward on the back of the print

Editor's Note:

The sepia print above was discovered in the Buckland Historical Society's collection. On the back of the print was a handwritten note, "'The Surprise' For Miss Mabel Raguse from Robert Strong Woodward"

We is not clear to us is whether this was a painting he made for her or if he had H.R. Ashworth make a print of a painting for her. It is probably the latter since the painting in the sepia is completely unknown to us.

Buckland school teacher Miss Mabel
Raguse in her apartment in Shelburne Falls,
MA beneath the chalk drawing From a May Hill

Buckland school teacher Miss Mabel Raguse purchased 2 oil paintings and 3 chalk drawings over her life time. This is quite a feat on a teacher's salary. Safe estimates of what it cost her are anywhere from $25,000 to $27,000 in today's dollars. We do not how much her wages were in that time yet it is safe to say what she spent on paintings by Woodward probably totaled around a third of a year's salary.

How significant is this? To answer that, we point out that while Woodward had great relationships with other buyers like Mable, (Lucy Bridgeman for one), but Mable is the only one Woodward showed his great appreciation to, making for her a sepia print of a painting as a gift. It is unclear which but it is most likely he had the print made for her.

We would love to know what painting this is! If Ashworth took a picture of it, it indicates Woodward planned to exhibit it.

For more about Miss Mabel Raguse and her love of RSW's work CLICK HERE