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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.914
Hollyhocks
ca. 1892
Oil on canvas
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 61 cm)
Signed lower right: J. H. Twachtman–
David B. Findlay Jr. Trust
Provenance
(Macbeth, 1919);
to Harry W. Jones, Kansas City, 1919;
to Mr. and Mrs. David Findlay, New Canaan, Connecticut;
to (Peter Findlay Gallery, New York, and David Findlay Jr., Fine Art, New York);
to present collection, 2015.
Exhibitions
2006 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, John Twachtman (1853–1902): A "Painter's Painter," May 4–June 24, 2006. (Nelson 2006); (Parkes 2006); (Peters 2006–I); (Peters 2006–II); (Peters 2006–III); (Peters 2006–IV), no. 33, as Hollyhocks. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
2022 Greenwich Historical Society
Greenwich Historical Society, Cos Cob, Connecticut, Life and Art: The Greenwich Paintings of John Henry Twachtman, October 19, 2022–January 22, 2023. (Peters 2021–II), no. 8, as Hollyhocks.
Literature
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. 337 ill. in b/w (fig. 96); vol. 2, p. 554 (catalogue A, no. 277), as Hollyhocks. (Hale concordance).
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. 33, as Hollyhocks.
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), pp. 144–45 ill. in color, as Hollyhocks.
Connors 2021
Connors, Thomas. "Connecticut Idyll: How the American Impressionist John Henry Twachtman Made Fairfield County His Own Personal Giverny." Antiques 178 (November 2021), pp. 94 ill. in color (fig. 4), 96, as Hollyhocks.
Peters 2021–II
Peters, Lisa N. Life and Art: The Greenwich Paintings of John Henry Twachtman. Cos Cob, Conn.: Greenwich Historical Society, 2021. Exhibition catalogue (2022 Greenwich Historical Society), pp. 46–47 ill. in color (fig. 30), 104 ill. in color, as Hollyhocks.
Johnson 2022
Johnson, Kate Eagen. "Life and Art: The Greenwich Paintings of John Henry Twachtman." Antiques and the Arts Weekly (November 1, 2022), ill. in color, as Hollyhocks.
Commentary

For the view depicted in Hollyhocks, Twachtman's vantage point was from the hillside to the west of his Greenwich home, looking south over the top of the grass-covered root cellar toward the back of his home (its north facade). In the home are features that postdate his renovations of about 1892, including the lowering of the eaves and the construction of a new back entryway, marked by a small gable projecting from the roof. Martha Twachtman confirmed the work's approximate dating in a letter she prepared for Vose Galleries, Boston, in 1919, which states: “This was painted by my husband John H. Twachtman at our house in Greenwich about the year 1892.”   

In Hollyhocks, Twachtman turned from a standard depiction of a home with a garden plot behind it, creating a composition in which he integrated floral and architectural elements. He portrayed flowers with vigorous swirls of pigment, conveying their vivacity, while setting them flush against the grass-covered roof of the root cellar so that they appear to nestle up against the dormer that looked out from his studio. The home is not just in the background, it is integral to the composition’s structure. At its center, Twachtman featured the gable over the back door, using just two decisive strokes of white paint to emphasize its significance despite its small size.

Selected Literature

From Peters 2006–IV

In [Hollyhocks], Twachtman evokes the popular idea of his era that a country house and its garden were to flow together, forming a unified arrangement. Sarah Cone described such a quality in an article in 1903 for Country Life in America magazine in which she described a home in Brookline, Massachusetts: “The whole garden is treated as an adjunct of the house . . . [and] the grounds seem but to continue and expand from the house, and the house to concentrate the prevailing thought of its surroundings.”[1]

From Connors 2021

In the seemingly breeze-swept Hollyhocks (Fig. 4), [the house] functions as a framing device, directing the eye to the pleasing pink of the flowers.

[1] Sara Cone Bryant, “A Suburban Place of Four Acres,” Country Life in America 4 (August 1903), p. 267.