Catalogue Entry
In Figure in Sunlight, Twachtman portrayed his wife Martha in the “mystic saddle-room” that led into the dining room of his Greenwich home. By leaving the door to the room open, Twachtman included in the work a view of the root cellar and its doorway, adjacent to and behind his home, which can be seen on a diagonal to the right of the figure. Beyond are the steps that curved around to the upper terrace, where the family often enjoyed sitting together in the outdoors.
In the painting, the light that washes over Martha's dress shifts gradually from the warmth of the outdoors to the cooler glow of the interior, and Twachtman treated the figure impressionistically, as a shape within his composition, subject to the same atmospheric conditions as the space around her. Even though he did not detail his wife’s features, there is a personal aspect to the work. In Martha’s relaxed pose, Twachtman conveyed her enjoyment of rest and repose within a domestic context, while through his intimate perspective on the figure in both works, he suggested his closeness to his wife.
This painting appears to have been exhibited as In the Doorway (no. 11), in the exhibition at the American Art Galleries in 1893 that featured work by Twachtman, Julian Alden Weir, Claude Monet, and Paul-Albert Besnard. A visitor to the show annotated a copy of the catalogue, describing the work as an image of a woman in a rocking chair in a bluish dress, her face not defined, in pale sunlight.[1] It is likely that Twachtman changed the work's title later in the decade, showing it as Figure in White in the Carnegie Institute Annual of 1896–97.
This painting belonged to Martha Twachtman until about 1920, when it was purchased by the dealer Frank K. M. Rehn. A letter of January 16, 1921 in the painting’s file at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from the collector John Gellatly to Rehn refers to a note from the former owner of the painting, perhaps Martha Twachtman, but that note is not known today. In the letter, Gellatly asks that the “beautiful Twachtman” not be shown publicly. The painting was part of his gift to the museum in 1929.
[1] The copy of the catalogue belongs to the New-York Historical Society Library.
From Hale 1957
In the few figure pieces that we have from his brush, such as Mother and Child [OP.964] and Figure in Sunlight, the human subjects are handled as to be part of the conceived scheme of the composition and are not at all the sort of thing that would have sold or even caught a jury’s eye.
From Peters 1989–III
The subject of a quietly reflective woman seated within the confines of an interior space was a popular subject for many artists of the late nineteenth century and was explored most often by artists of the Boston School. Twachtman’s depiction opposes the conventions associated with imagery of women in interiors that were followed by Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson, or William Paxton. Rather than painting in a tight realistic style and surrounding the figure with aesthetic objects, Twachtman treats it in generalized terms and focusses on conveying a mood of serenity. Martha’s inward concentration, expressed by her folded hands and calm pose, set the tone of the work. The angles of the porch window, and slope of the stone structure in the landscape beyond the figure echo her pose and stillness [p. 74].
- Museum website (https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/figure-sunlight-artists-wife-24340)