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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Dunes, Back of Coney Island, ca. 1879–80 (OP.315). Fig. 1. Twachtman, The Sand Dunes, Back from the Beach," engraving by "Kilburn" from William Bishop, "To Coney island,"Scribner's Monthly 20 (July 1880), p. 365.
Fig. 1. Twachtman, The Sand Dunes, Back from the Beach," engraving by "Kilburn" from William Bishop, "To Coney island,"Scribner's Monthly 20 (July 1880), p. 365.
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Keywords
OP.315
Dunes, Back of Coney Island
Alternate titles: Sand Dunes Back of Coney Island; Sand Dunes, Bank of Coney Island; The Sand Dunes, Back from the Beach
ca. 1879–80
Oil on canvas
13 3/4 x 20 in. (34.9 x 50.8 cm)
Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Museum Purchase (1956.010)
Exhibitions
1939 Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, Presenting the Work of John H. Twachtman, American Painter, November 5–28, 1939, no. 10, as Sand Dunes Back of Coney Island.
Literature
Bishop 1880
Bishop, William. "To Coney Island." Scribner's Monthly 20 (July 1880), p. 362 ill. in b/w in engraving by Kilburn, as The Sand Dunes, Back from the Beach.
Anderson Galleries 1917
Auction catalogue, March 8, 1917. New York: Anderson Galleries, 1917, lot 137.
Art News 1939
"Utica: A Retrospective of Twachtman." Art News 38 (November 1939), p. 15, as The Sand Dunes, Back from the Beach.
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, p. 373, ill. in b/w (fig. 128); vol. 2, p. 488 (catalogue G, no. 527), as Dunes, Back of Coney Island. (Hale concordance).
Peters 2006–IV
Peters, Lisa N. "Catalogue." In John Twachtman (1853–1902): A "Painter's Painter", by Lisa N. Peters. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 2006. Exhibition catalogue (2006 Spanierman), p. 94 ill. in color (fig. 68), as Sand Dunes Back of Coney Island.
Commentary

This painting was used as the basis for an illustration in William H. Bishop’s “To Coney Island,” which appeared in the July 1880 issue of Scribner’s Magazine. Twachtman’s approach demonstrates the essence of the painter-illustrator movement for his decision not to detail the amusement park, but to create an aesthetic interpretation of his subject. Portraying the resort in the distance, he emphasized the pattern formed by the undulating dunes and dry beach grass that were before him. The article pointed out that Coney Island was "quite original, distinctively American, and charming," noting that it was easier to access from New York than Trouville was from Paris. In his image, Twachtman conveyed how Coney Island, with its flags and towers, beckoned as it was approached, providing, as the article stated, a way to find pleasure and refreshment in a place that offered relief for the populace from "the fierce heats of a New York summer."[1]

[1] Bishop 1880, p. 365.