John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society
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Keywords
OP.943
The Flower Garden
Alternate titles: Flowers; Pink Phlox
1890s
Oil on canvas
27 1/8 x 22 3/16 in. (68.9 x 56.3 cm)
Stamped lower left: Twachtman Sale [1903 estate stamp]
Brigham Young University, Museum of Art, Provo, Utah, Gift of Mahonri Sharp Young and Cecilia Agnes Young Lay (820038904)
Exhibitions
1903–I American Art Galleries
American Art Galleries, New York, Sale of the Work of the Late John H. Twachtman, exhibition and auction, March 19–24, 1903, no. 29, as Pink Phlox.
1907–I Lotos Club
Lotos Club, New York, Exhibition of Paintings by the Late John H. Twachtman, January 5–31, 1907, no. 37, as Pink Phlox, lent by J. Alden Weir.
1913 New York School of Applied Design for Women
New York School of Applied Design for Women, Fifty Paintings by the Late John H. Twachtman, January 15–February 15, 1913, no. 39, as Flowers, lent by J. Alden Weir, Esq.
1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Department of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, February 20–December 4, 1915, no. 4057, as Flowers, lent by J. Alden Weir Esq.
1999 High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist, February 26–May 21, 2000. (Peters 1999–I), no. 38, as The Flower Garden. Traveled to: Cincinnati Art Museum, June 6–September 5, 1999; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, October 16, 1999–January 2, 2000.
Literature
Sun 1903–II
"Twachtman Pictures, $16,610." Sun (New York), March 25, 1903, p. 5, as Pink Phlox.
New York Times 1903–III
"Twachtman Picture Sale." New York Times, March 25, 1903, p. 5, as Pink Phlox.
Hale 1957
Hale, John Douglass. "Life and Creative Development of John H. Twachtman." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 1957. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms, 1958, vol. 2, pp. 447 (catalogue G, no. 176), 480 (catalogue G, no. 460, as Pink Phlox), as Flowers. (Hale concordance).
Brigham Young University Art Museum 1985
Brigham Young University Art Museum. The American Image, 1830–1940: Selections from the Brigham Young University Art Museum Collection. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1985, pp. 22, 31, ill. in color, as The Flower Garden.
Gerdts 1989
Gerdts, William H. "'Like Dreams of Flowers.'" In In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J. H. Twachtman, by Lisa N. Peters et al. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 1989. Exhibition catalogue (1989 Spanierman), pp. 32–33, as The Flower Garden.
Peters 1989–II
Peters, Lisa N. "Twachtman's Greenwich Garden." In In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J. H. Twachtman, by Lisa N. Peters et al. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 1989. Exhibition catalogue (1989 Spanierman), pp. 14–16, as The Flower Garden.
Gerdts 1990–IV
Gerdts, William H. "Impressionism in the United States." In World Impressionism: The International Movement, 1860–1920, ed. Norma Broude. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990, pp. 51, 53 ill. in color, as The Flower Garden.
Peters 1999–I
Peters, Lisa N. John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist. Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 1999. Exhibition catalogue (1999 High Museum of Art), pp. 123, 128 ill. in color, as The Flower Garden.
Commentary

This painting was titled Pink Phlox when it was included in Twachtman’s 1903 estate sale. In it, the upright, flamelike flowers, seen from below, fill the composition and are silhouetted against a patch of sky. Thus, Twachtman expressed their outward energy and inward vivacity. Throughout the work, he applied thick paint to the canvas, shaping it with brushes and palette knife for an animated surface effect. The patch of ground at the lower left may be part of the patio at the back of the Twachtman home, implying that the setting is the artist’s garden, despite the seeming wildness of the flowers, growing freely in high grass.

Julian Alden Weir was the purchaser of this painting from Twachtman’s estate sale. He lent it, with the title of Flowers, to the artist’s memorial exhibition at the Lotos Club in 1907, the New York School of Applied Design for Women in 1913, and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.