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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.946
Tiger Lilies
ca. 1892
Oil on canvas
30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Signed middle left: J. H. Twachtman
Provenance
Martha Twachtman, the artist's wife, Greenwich, Connecticut;
to her daughter Marjorie Twachtman Pell;
(Milch, 1963);
to Mr. and Mrs. Meyer P. Potamkin, 1964;
to (Sotheby's, New York, Potamkin sale, May 21, 2003, lot 26).
Exhibitions
1893 American Art Galleries probably
American Art Galleries, New York, Paintings, Pastels, and Etchings by J. Alden Weir, J. H. Twachtman, Claude Monet, and Paul Albert Besnard, by May 4–mid-November 1893, no. 26, as Tiger Lilies.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. 17, as Tiger Lilies, lent by Mrs. J. H. Twachtman.1913–I Albright Art Gallery
Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, Paintings and Pastels by the Late John H. Twachtman, March 11–April 2, 1913, no. 12, as Tiger Lilies, lent by Mrs. J. H. Twachtman.1970 Dallas Museum of Fine Arts
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The M. P. Potamkin Collection, January–March 1970, no. 71, as Tiger Lilies.1972 William Penn Memorial Museum
William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, An Alumnus Salutes Dickinson College's 200th Anniversary, 1773–1973: From the Collection of Meyer and Vivian Potamkin, November 19, 1972–January 3, 1973, no. 151, as Tiger Lilies.1980 Hurlbutt Gallery
William Benton Museum, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut and American Impressionism, March 20–May 31, 1980, no. 150, p. 103, as Tiger Lilies.1983 Montclair Art Museum
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art, October 1–November 30, 1983, pp. 80, 113 ill. in b/w, 138, ill. in b/w opp. p. 112, as Tiger Lilies. 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, 1984.1989 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. 3, as Tiger Lilies.1989 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, American Art from the Collection of Vivian and Meyer P. Potamkin, June–October 1989, p. 14, as Tiger Lilies.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. 35, as Tiger Lilies. Traveled to: Cincinnati Art Museum, June 6–September 5, 1999; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, October 16, 1999–January 2, 2000.Literature
Standard Union 1893 probably
"The American Art Galleries." Standard Union (Brooklyn), May 8, 1893, p. 7, as Tiger Lilies.Buffalo Fine Arts Academy 1913
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. "Memorial Exhibition of the Works of John H. Twachtman." Albright Academy Notes 8 (April 1913), p. 66, as Tiger Lilies.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, p. 470 (catalogue G, nos. 385, 386, 387, and 388), as Tiger Lilies. (Hale concordance).Boyle 1974–I
Boyle, Richard. American Impressionism. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1974, p. 94 ill. in color, as Tiger Lilies.Gerdts 1983
Gerdts, William H. Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art. Montclair, New Jersey: Montclair Art Museum, 1983. Exhibition catalogue, p. 113 ill. in b/w; n.p. color inset, as Tiger Lilies.Boyle 1989
Boyle, Richard J. "John H. Twachtman's Mastery of Method." In In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J. H. Twachtman, Lisa N. Peters et al. Exhibition catalogue (1989 Spanierman), pp. 45–47, as Tiger Lilies.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), p. 29, as Tiger Lilies.Peters 1989–I
Peters, Lisa N. "Twachtman's Greenwich Paintings: Context and Chronology." In John Twachtman: Connecticut Landscapes, by Deborah Chotner, Lisa N. Peters, and Kathleen A. Pyne. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1989. Exhibition catalogue (1989–II National Gallery of Art), p. 31, as Tiger Lilies.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), p. 15, as Tiger Lilies.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. 60–61 ill. in color, 66, 84, as Tiger Lilies.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. 358; vol. 2, p. 894 ill. in b/w (fig. 380), as Tiger Lilies.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, 126 ill. in color, as Tiger Lilies.May 2000–II
May, Stephen. "Visual Poetry: The Landscapes of John Henry Twachtman." Art & Antiques 23 (February 2000), pp. 123, 126 ill. in color, as Tiger Lilies.Sotheby's New York 2003
American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Collection of Meyer and Vivian Potamkin. Auction catalogue, May 21, 2003. New York: Sotheby's, 2003, lot 26 ill. in color, as Tiger Lilies.Commentary
This can be presumed to have been the painting Tiger Lilies, included in the exhibition at the American Art Galleries in May–September 1893 of the work of Twachtman, Julian Alden Weir, Claude Monet, and Paul-Albert Besnard. In the show, Twachtman also showed a pastel of tiger lilies, probably Tiger Lilies (P.909). His focus on this subject was due to the flower’s prevalence in his Greenwich garden, where the perennial blossoms grew in clusters and served as borders and accents. Twachtman portrayed the same flower as orange dots in The Cabbage Patch (OP.929) and in a close-up perspective in Tiger Lilies (OP.929).[1] Here he conveyed the nature of the flowers with a brush handling consistent with their vivacity and movement. Through his worm’s-eye vantage point, he monumentalized the flamelike flowers that blaze in their verdant setting and give an orange tint to a patch of sky.
In 1913 Twachtman's widow lent the painting, which had remained in his estate, to the 1913 shows at the New York School of Applied Design for Women and the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. In a review of the New York show, a critic for the New York Tribune could have had this painting in mind in the observation: “There is an exquisite sentiment pervading [Twachtman’s] ‘fugitive notes,’ the sentiment of lovely green things, of flowers and of sweet light and air.”[2]
[1] The flower depicted in both paintings may be a Turk's-cap lily, a native of New England, rather than the more exotic Tiger Lily, an Asian import.