RSW's Diary Comments

• Woodward did not keep records of the pastels he called "chalk drawings."

Editor's Note:

Woodward never kept an official ledger of his remarkable chalk drawings much to our chagrin. He never gave them equal footing to that of his oil paintings. For Woodward, it seemed as if he did them for the pure enjoyment of drawing, his first love.

However, as time has passed they are as equally admired and coveted by many for their extraordinary beauty and skill and in many cases have out-paced in value their sibling oils.

Mount Equinox in April, 1934
A rare vantage point of Mt. Equinox in Manchester, VT.

In a rare instance of appealing directly to his market, Woodward seemed to make a number of paintings and drawings of Mount Equinox in Manchester, VT specifically for the annual exhibitions of the Southern Vermont Artist Association (SVAA). This drawing hung in the 1936 exhibition as the painting Mount Equinox in April (right) hung in the 1934 show. But there is more to it than that. Woodward truly did hold a special appreciation for the dramatic landscape of mountains in the area. He also enjoyed traveling to Southern Vermont, often accompanied by friends with a thermos of coffee and a picnic lunch in tow, for a day outing. He painted a number of hills and mountains in the area, such as, Aeolis, Haystack in Pawlett, and Mt. Peru in Dorsett to the north. Farther southeast, he painted a number scenes of the hills and lakes near Wilmington, VT, featuring the "other" Mount Haystack and farther north still, Camel's Hump from Riverton, VT.

Topographic illustration of Woodward's location

In this particular chalk drawing, Mount Equinox was obvious and easily recognizable but there are a number of ponds and bodies of water nearby. Using topographic maps we determined that Woodward most likely drew this painting from the edge of Equinox Pond seen in the graphic to the left. The topography lines up with the drawing almost perfectly.

NOTE: Mount Equinox in April and On the Edge of the Pond both show the strong "A" face of of the mountain but Mount Equinox in April appears to be farther south probably along the main road. You can see a county road in the foreground suggesting to us he had to be along side SR 7a.

For a similar view of this scene today can be seen in the British photography agency Alamy's online stock collection website. This link will open in a new tab.