The New Hope Artists Colony: Walter Schofield, Last Years

"King's Garden, Godolphin Manor" by Walter Schofield

"From 1925 to 1937, Walter Schofield and his wife resided at 'High House,' in Otley, England. In September 1937 their son Sydney purchased a grand residence, Godolphin Manor in Cornwall. The manor dated from the fifteenth century, and seemed a natural decision because the Schofields had a very active interest in architecture. Muriel worked in the cause of preservation and protection of early buildings and was cofounder of the Suffolk Preservation Society. Sydney was an architect, and Walter Schofield liked painting architecture and painted several views of the gardens.

Because of restrictions placed on travel between Great Britain and the United States during World War II, Schofield was forced to remain in the United Kingdom throughout the period. As the war continued, he longed to return to the United States. He even began to add snow to Cornish landscapes in imitation of snow scenes he had painted in the United States. 

Unfortunately, he never returned there. He died on 1 March 1944. His remains were first buried at Lelant in Cornwall, but after the war he was reinterred at Saint James the Less Church in Philadelphia.

Schofield had a restless spirit and he enjoyed traveling. Yet it was his gift to be able to capture the mood and character of the many places he visited. Along with Edward Redfield he was chiefly responsible for disseminating and popularizing the Pennsylvania Impressionist style of winter landscape painting."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Pennsylvania Impressionists" by Thomas Folk.)