Dr. Rick Leskowitz says it took awhile to put two and two together. A holistic psychiatrist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, Leskowitz left the hustle-bustle of beantown to relocate to Buckland two years ago and work part-time. It was there that he attended an event in town and saw some artwork by the late Robert Strong Woodward, who was born in Northampton in 1885. He immediately admired the work, but it took a couple of weeks to connect the dots.
Woodward was paralyzed from the waist down due to a firearm mishap — and Spaulding Rehab displays the work of disabled artists. Leskowitz and the Friends of Robert Strong Woodward coordinated with the hospital and the end result is “Robert Strong Woodward: Landscapes from a Passing New England,” a collection of eight paintings that will remain in exhibition until Aug. 14.
Leskowitz says he loves that Woodward, “does such a good job of capturing the beauty of the Pioneer Valley.”
“I’ve been to many of the places he painted — and he did it well,” he says.
One of his paintings, “When Apples Are Ripe,” depicts a rural view of nature from the inside looking out. Three apples, a lantern, a glass bottle and four book sit atop a window sill while animals graze outside. There are also apples scattered around the ground and hanging from overhead tree branches.
Another, titled “Spring Silhouette,” shows a man tending to taps inserted into a line of maple trees, with rolling green hills to the left. According to Spaulding Rehab, Woodward created more than 600 oil paintings and as many as 300 chalk drawings.
Woodward became paralyzed after accidentally shooting himself in the spine when he was 21, while living with his parents in California. He attended Bradley Polytechnic Institute (now Bradley University) in Peoria, Ill., and later the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
He lasted a few months in Boston before moving to Buckland, where his grandparents lived. He started making bookplates professionally, but didn’t earn much of a living that way, so soon tried his hand at painting landscapes.
George Gardner Symons, a successful painter who lived in the area, encouraged the budding young artist, who by 1918 started entering his work in shows in New York City.
Woodward eventually hired a local boy named Mark Purinton to do odd jobs, and became a mentor and father-figure to him, even putting the young lad through college and medical school.
Janet Gerry grew up as best friends with Purinton’s daughter, and remembers seeing original Woodward paintings, “all lined up on one wall” of the Purintons’ home.
Gerry said the Spaulding Rehab exhibition is a great showcase for Woodward’s art, which stands on its own, with the man’s physical challenges a mere sidenote.
“I grew up with all these wonderful paintings,” she says. “He was always interested in art and he had a very visual sense. His letters were always talking about how things looked.”
Woodward died in Buckland in 1957.
Gerry said that Woodward’s art has a special meaning for many at Spaulding Rehab.
“Patients at the hospital do some of their physical therapy in the wide hallway where the paintings and storyboards are hung,” Gerry wrote in an email. “They are particularly taken with photos of Woodward in his (hopelessly outdated) wheelchair, and a buggy crash. One of the therapists was telling me how it reminds patients of their own spectacular crashes.”
Eight Woodward paintings are featured in the Spaulding Peace Art Gallery on the hospital’s second floor and can be viewed every day between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
“Spaulding’s commitment to art is evident throughout our hospital as it plays a major role in creating a healing environment,” said Oz Mondejar, Spaulding’s senior vice president of mission and advocacy. “In addition to that, we are committed to providing opportunities for working artists with disabilities to display their wonderful work both for the enjoyment of our community, as well as an avenue of income for them. It’s the perfect extension of our mission — to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve in any way possible.”
The gallery rotates its exhibits with three to four each year. Artists interested in being part of future exhibitions should contact Colleen Moran, director of work force development and volunteer programs, at 617-952-6972.