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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

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Keywords
OP.957
Azaleas
Alternate titles: The Azaleas; The Garden Walk
Late 1890s
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman
Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, Lynchburg, Virginia, Gift of Mrs. Andrew C. Gleason, in honor Mrs. Powell C. Glass (M.1945.4)
Provenance
Henry Smith, New York, by 1915;
(Milch, 1922);
J. K. Newman, New York;
(American Art Association—Anderson Gallery, New York, Newman sale, December 6, 1935, lot 21);
to (W. H. Weidman), agent for William Randolph Hearst;
(Milch, by 1942);
(Leo Elwyn & Co., 1943);
(Milch, 1946);
(Macbeth, 1946);
to Mrs. Andrew C. Gleason, 1945;
gift to present collection, 1945.
Exhibitions
1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Department of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, February 20–December 4, 1915, no. 4064, as The Azaleas, lent by Henry Smith, Esq.
1942–I Milch
Milch Galleries, New York, Selected Paintings by Early and Contemporary American Artists, Summer 1942, no. 1, as Azaleas.
1942–I Babcock
Babcock Galleries, New York, Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels by John H. Twachtman, February 9–28, 1942, no. 8, as Azaleas.
1943 Knoedler
Knoedler Galleries, New York, American Landscape Painting from 1750, May 17–June 11, 1943, no. 36, as Azaleas.
1945 Milch
Milch Galleries, New York, Paintings by American Artists: Late 19th- and Early 20th- Centuries, May 1945, no. 12, as Azaleas.
1949 Randolph-Macon Woman's College
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia, Thirty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of American Art, May 5–June 7, 1949, no. 11, as Azaleas.
1953 Randolph-Macon Woman's College
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia, Selected Paintings from the College Collection, March 15–21, 1953, no. 56, as Azaleas.
1961 Art Gallery of Toronto
Art Gallery of Toronto, American Painting, 1865–1905, January 6–June 18, 1961, no. 68, p. 28 ill. in b/w, as Azaleas.
1965 University of New Mexico Art Gallery
University of New Mexico Art Gallery, Albuquerque, Impressionism in America, February 9–March 14, 1965, no. 83, ill. in b/w, as Azaleas. Traveled to: M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, March 30–May 5, 1965.
1966 Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Art of the United States: 1670-1966, September 28–November 27, 1966, no. 279, p. 68 ill. in color, as Azaleas.
1980 Henry Art Gallery
Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, American Impressionism, January 3–March 2, 1980, as Azaleas, not listed in the catalogue. Traveled to: Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, March 9–May 4, 1980; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, May 16–June 22, 1980; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, July 1–August 31, 1980.
1983 Montclair Art Museum
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art, October 1–November 30, 1983, as Azaleas. Traveled to: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, December 13, 1983–February 12, 1984; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, March 1–May 27, 1984.
1985 North Carolina Museum of Art
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, Paintings from The Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, December 14, 1985–January 26, 1986, no. 36, p. 23 ill. in b/w, as Azaleas.
1989 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J. H. Twachtman, May 10–June 10, 1989. (Exhibition catalogue: Boyle 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Gerdts 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Spanierman 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Peters 1989–II); (Exhibition catalogue: Peters 1989–III), no. 6, as Azaleas.
Literature
Milch Gallery 1922
Milch Gallery Art Notes. New York: E. & A. Milch, 1922, p. 11 ill. in b/w, as The Garden Walk.
American Art Association—Anderson Galleries 1935–II
The J. K. Newman Collection of Important Paintings by American and French XIX–XX Century Artists. Auction catalogue, December 6, 1935. New York: American Art Association—Anderson Galleries, 1935, lot 21 ill. in b/w, as The Azaleas.
Lane 1942
Lane, James W. "Twachtman at His Best." Artnews 41 (March 1–14, 1942), p. 29 ill. in b/w, as Azaleas.
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. 219–20, ill. in b/w; vol. 2, p. 540 (catalogue A, no. 32), as The Azaleas. (Hale concordance).
Williams 1965
Williams, Mary Frances. Catalogue of the Collection of American Painting at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Lynchburg, Va.: Randolph-Macon Woman's College, 1965, pp. 90, ill., in b/w, 91, as Azaleas.
Williams 1972
Williams, Mary F. "The Painting Collection at Randolph-Macon." Art Journal 32 (Winter 1972–73), p. 195 ill. in b/w, as Azaleas.
Williams 1977
Williams, Mary Frances. Catalogue of the Collection of American Art at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1977, pp. C31 ill. in b/w, 158–59, as Azaleas.
Gerdts 1983
Gerdts, William H. Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art. Montclair, New Jersey: Montclair Art Museum, 1983. Exhibition catalogue, p. 109 ill. in b/w, as Azaleas.
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. 13–15, as Azaleas.
Peters 1989–III
Peters, Lisa N. "Catalogue." 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. 66–67 ill. in color, as Azaleas.
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. 293; vol. 2, p. 842 ill. in b/w (fig. 320), as Azaleas.
Commentary

In Azaleas, Twachtman’s view was along the lower path at the north side of his Greenwich home, looking toward the family barn. Neatly trimmed flower beds, painted with multi-hued, densely knit pigments, create a tunnel-like movement to the white building, with its attached dovecote. Flowering trees are starkly silhouetted against the sunlit facade. The painting reveals ways in which Twachtman organized nature and architecture in his property for artistic results that then inspired his paintings.

The early history of this painting is unknown. By 1915 it belonged to the New York collector Henry Smith, who lent it to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Smith also owned Twachtman’s Rainbow’s Source (OP.1133) and Snowbound (OP.909). In 1922 Smith sold Azaleas, along with Snowbound, to Milch Galleries.