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John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society
Catalogue Entry
OP.733
Along the River, Winter
Alternate title: Winter
ca. 1885
Oil on canvas
15 1/8 x 21 11/16 in. (38.4 x 55.1 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman
Image: Mike Jensen
Provenance
(Macbeth, after 1907);
to [Bory] R. Brown, 1919;
(Macbeth, by 1926);
to George Barr McCutcheon, 1926–29;
(American Art Association, New York, McCutcheon sale, January 31, 1929, lot 27);
to (Macbeth);
to J. J. Haverty, Atlanta, 1929;
to Mary E. Haverty, 1939;
to present collection, 1949.
Exhibitions
1886 J. Eastman Chase's Gallery probably
J. Eastman Chase's Gallery, Boston, Paintings and Pastels by John H. Twachtman, January 19–30, 1886, no. 7, as Winter.1966 Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum, John Henry Twachtman: A Retrospective Exhibition, October 7–November 20, 1966. (Exhibition catalogue: Baskett 1966); (Exhibition catalogue: Boyle 1966–I), no. 31, p. 25 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter, lent by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.1967 Philbrook Art Center
Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, French and American Impressionism, October 2–November 26, 1967, no. 68, pp. 22–23 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.1972 California Palace of the Legion of Honor
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, The Color of Mood: American Tonalism, 1880–1910, January 22–April 2, 1972, p. 31 ill. b/w (plate 5), as Along the River, Winter.1975 Hunter Museum of Art
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee, A Southern Sampler: American Paintings in Southern Museums, September 21–October 31, 1975, no. 28, p. 11 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.1978 Huntsville Museum of Art
Huntsville Museum of Art, Alabama, American Impressionist Painters, December 3, 1978–January 15, 1979, no. 15, ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.1979 San Jose Museum of Art
San Jose Museum of Art, California, The United States and the Impressionist Era, November 17, 1979–January 9, 1980, no. 70, ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.1980 National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Paintings, 1880-1906, May 25–September 1, 1980, no. 265, p. 234 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.1982 Cedar Rapids Art Center
Cedar Rapids Art Center, Iowa, The American Landscape Tradition: A Study and Gallery of Paintings, November 7, 1982–January 9, 1983, no. 18, ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.1987 Norton Gallery of Art
Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, In Nature's Ways: American Landscape Painting of the Late Nineteenth Century, February 21–April 12, 1987, no. 71, as Along the River, Winter. Traveled to: National Academy of Design, New York, May 8–August 16, 1987; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, September 10–November 1, 1987.1990 Wallraf-Richartz Museum
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, Landschaft im Licht: Impressionistische Malerei in Europa und Nordamerika, 1860-1910, April 6–July 1, 1990, no. 200, pp. 276 col. ill. b/w, 501, as Along the River, Winter. Traveled to: Kunsthaus, Zurich, August 3–October 21, 1990.1999 High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist, February 26–May 21, 2000. (Peters 1999–I), no. 11, as Along the River, Winter. Traveled to: Cincinnati Art Museum, June 6–September 5, 1999; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, October 16, 1999–January 2, 2000.2014–15 Terra Foundation for American Art
Terra Foundation for American Art, Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, American Impressionism: A New Vision, 1880–1900, March 28–June 29, 2014. (Bourguignon 2014), as Along the River, Winter. Traveled to: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, July 19–October 19, 2014; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, November 4, 2014–February 1, 2015.Literature
Boston Daily Advertiser 1886
"The Fine Arts." Boston Daily Advertiser, January 23, 1886, p. 5, as Winter.Boston Evening Transcript 1886 possibly
"Paintings and Pastels by J. H. Twachtman." Boston Evening Transcript, January 23, 1886, p. 6, as Winter.Boston Herald 1886
"Twachtman’s Paintings and Pastels at Chase's, Etc.: Mr. J. H. Twachtman." Boston Herald, January 24, 1886, p. 13, as Winter.American Art Association 1929
A Choice Little Collection: Paintings by the American Masters and a Number of Examples of the Barbizon and Dutch Schools Formed by the Late George Barr McCutcheon. Auction catalogue, January 31, 1929. New York: American Art Association, 1929, lot 27, as Along the River, Winter.Tucker 1931
Tucker, Allen. John H. Twachtman. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1931, pp. 48–49 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.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. 1, pp. 190, 194, ill. b/w (fig. 23); vol. 2, p. 566 (catalogue A, no. 501), as Along the River, Winter. (Hale concordance).Time 1966
"Painting: The Quiet American." Time 88 (October 14, 1966), p. 91 ill. in color, as Along the River, Winter.Chambers 1975
Chambers, Bruce W. The High Museum of Art: A Bicentennial Catalogue. Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 1975, pp. 56–57 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.Corn et al. 1980
Corn, Wanda et. al. Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting, 1880–1906. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1980. Exhibition catalogue, p. 234 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.Gerdts 1990–I
Gerdts, William H. "American Impressionism." In Landschaft im Licht: Impressionistische Malerei in Europa und Nordamerika, 1860–1910, ed. Götz Czymmek. Zurich: Wallraf-Richartz Museum, 1990. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 276 ill in color, 501, as Along the River, Winter.Larson, Hoopes, and Peet 1994
Larson, Judy L., Donelson Hoopes and Phyllis Peet. American Paintings at the High Museum of Art. New York: Hudson Hills, 1994, pp. 118–19 ill. in color, 180, 208, as Along the River, Winter.Peters 1995
Peters, Lisa N. "John Twachtman (1853–1902) and the American Scene in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Frontier within the Terrain of the Familiar." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, City University of New York, 1995. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1996, vol. 1, p. 236; vol. 2, p. 748 ill. in b/w (fig. 217), as Along the River, Winter.May 1999
May, Stephen. "John Twachtman: An American Impressionist." Antiques and the Arts Weekly (December 3, 1999), p. 71 ill. in b/w, as Along the River, Winter.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. 74–75 ill. in color, as Along the River, Winter.May 2000–II
May, Stephen. "Visual Poetry: The Landscapes of John Henry Twachtman." Art & Antiques 23 (February 2000), p. 87 ill. in color, as Along the River, Winter.Lyman 2004
Lyman, Laurel. "The Influence of Japonisme on the American Impressionists." Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate School of the City University of New York, 2004. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microforms, 2004, p. 102 (fig. 72b), as Along the River, Winter.High Museum of Art 2005
High Museum of Art. High Museum of Art: Selected Works from the Collection. Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 2005, p. 39 ill. in color, as Along the River, Winter.Bourguignon 2014
Bourguignon, Katherine M. American Impressionism: A New Vision 1880–1900. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014. Exhibition catalogue (2014–15 Terra Foundation for American Art), p. 124 ill. in color, as Along the River, Winter.Butler 2019
Butler, Eliza. "John Henry Twachtman and the Materiality of Snow." American Art 33 (Fall 2019), p. 82, as Along the River, Winter, misdated 1889.Burns 2020
Burns, Emily C. "Cultural Belatedness, Singularity, and American Impressionism." In America's Impressionism: Echoes of a Revolution, Amanda C. Burdan, ed. Memphis, Tenn.: Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Exhibition catalogue (2021–22 Dixon Gallery and Gardens), p. 58 ill. in color, as Along the River, Winter.Commentary
This painting appears to have been exhibited with the title of Winter in Twachtman’s solo exhibition at J. Eastman Chase's Gallery, Boston, in January 1886, where, as number 7 in the catalogue, it was one of two winter scenes on view (the other was probably Winter Landscape with Barn, OP.732). Its presence can be verified by descriptions in reviews. A critic for the Boston Evening Transcript wrote that the work shown depicted “a waste of white snow, a wheel track, deep-rutted, sinuous, stretching away to a group of farm buildings, with low hills in the distance.” The Boston Daily Advertiser reviewer saw the work as “extremely subtle and refined.” In the painting, Twachtman's view was across a flat snow-covered landscape (probably a frozen river), broken by carriage tracks that narrow gradually toward isolated far-off farm buildings. The painting evokes the experience of being on a road newly forged by carriage tracks, where shelter and human contact are still far away, heightening the traveler's awareness of the distance yet to be traveled.
It is possible that this was the painting, A Winter Road near Paris, lent to Twachtman's 1907 exhibition at the Lotos Club (1907–I Lotos Club) by Frederic B. Pratt (1865–1945), an American heir who was president of the Pratt Intitute from 1893 to 1937. An article about the exhibition in the Art Bulletin related it to The Torrent (OP.1136) commenting: "We find this same subtle quality in ‘A Winter Road near Paris,' lent by Mr. F. B. Pratt, where a few strong lines say so much."[1]
[1] Art Bulletin 1907.
Selected Literature
In its formal experimentation and sophisticated use of atmospheric space, Along the River, Winter teeters on the edge of abstraction. The scene is deliberately ambiguous. The jagged tracks in the snow may lead to an outlying building on the artist's Connecticut farm, but the lack of specificity is the point. Twachtman seems more interested in expressing the silent desolation of winter than in painting a legible landscape.
External Links
- Museum website (https://high.org/collections/along-the-river-winter/)