RSW's Diary Comments

RSW's personal photo from the site matching this paint-
ing. The picture was most likely taken by Dr. Mark.

"Painted in summer of 1946. Painted, with Mark along, during three long strung out trips to East Jaffrey, N.H. from the door yard of the Old School House, summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Roger R. Smith of 75 Elm St., Gardner, and bought by her about Sept. first 1946."

Editor's Note:

We want to take a moment here to point out that the Gardner's mentioned in this painting diary entry are the same Gardner's that hosted an extraordinary exhibit of Woodward's work in their home in 1944. The link between the Gardners and the artist was probably made through his friend F. Earl Williams, a long time Gardner resident and for some time the principle of the area high school. Visit any one or all of these painting pages for more information: New England Impressions, Winter Farms, From the North Window, Portrait of a Shadow , From a Mountain Farm, April Sun, Frost on the Window, A Winter Song,The Big Chimney, The Road Home, the oil A Winter Afternoon, Mountain Meadow, Tranquility, and The Little Red Barn

Woodward shown paintings from his Packard

As soon as was was old enough to drive Dr. Mark was taught by Woodward's handyman, Fabian Stone how to drive the 1936 Packard, the artist's work car. Dr. Mark tells the story of learning to navigate his way around and through obstacles and backing the very long and large touring car into the carriage house garage where it was kept. Dr. Mark would make many excursions with his benefactor but also told wonderful stories of delivering paintings to the So. Vermont Artist Association exhibit in Manchester, Vermont where Mrs. Adaline Frelinghuysen would buy paintings from the loading zone parking lot and his uncomfortable delivery to Cambridge, MA, for poet Robert Frost to swap paintings after his wife's death.

RSW made a chalk drawing of the same scene almost identical to the above oil painting titled In The Summer Sun