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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Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone, ca. 1895 (OP.1314). Fig. 1. Morning Glory Pool, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, June 2022
Fig. 1. Morning Glory Pool, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, June 2022
Image: Lisa N. Peters
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Keywords
OP.1314
Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone
Alternate titles: A Pool—Yellowstone Series; Misty Morning; Morning Glory, Spring
ca. 1895
Oil on canvas
29 3/4 x 24 1/2 in. (75.6 x 62.2 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman–
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Hannah L. Henderson in memory of her husband J. Wells Henderson (2019-33-1)
Exhibitions
1903–I American Art Galleries probably
American Art Galleries, New York, Sale of the Work of the Late John H. Twachtman, exhibition and auction, March 19–24, 1903, no. 49, as A Pool—Yellowstone Series.
1920 Century Club
Century Club, New York, Works by John H. Twachtman, March 1920, as Morning Glory, Spring.
1990 Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation
Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola, Switzerland, Masterworks of American Impressionism, July 22–October 28, 1990, no. 33, pp. 88-89 ill. in color, as Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone.
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. 54, as Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone, shown only in New York. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
Literature
New York Sun and New York Herald 1920
"Century Club Shows Paintings by Twachtman: Retrospective Exhibition of Great American Impressionist." New York Sun and New York Herald, March 8, 1920, as Morning Glory, Spring.
American Art Association 1928
Oil Paintings by Representative European and American XVIII and XIX Century Masters. Auction catalogue, February 2–3, 1928. New York: American Art Association, 1928, lot 158 ill. in b/w, as Misty Morning.
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. 475 (catalogue G, no. 423), as Misty Morning. (Hale concordance).
Gerdts 1990–II
Gerdts, William H. Masterworks of American Impressionism. Lugano-Castagnola, Switzerland: Fondazione Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1990. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 88–89 ill. in color (no. 33), as Misty Morning.
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. 372; vol. 2, p. 912 ill. in b/w (fig. 398), as Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone.
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. 184, 186–87 ill. in color, as Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone.
Peters 2024
Peters, Lisa N. "John Twachtman: An American Impressionist's Yellowstone." Montana: The Magazine of Western History 74 (Autumn 2024), pp. 11 ill. in color, 17–18, as Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone.
Commentary

Located in Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin, north of Old Faithful, the Morning Glory Pool was named for its resemblance to the shape of the corolla of the morning glory flower, while its hot temperature is responsible for its dazzling ultramarine and turquoise hues (fig.1). The pool has a glistening translucency, which Twachtman conveys here. In the work, he took an overhead perspective on the scene, capturing the colors bleeding upward from the pool's depths. He recorded the shift of tone from the waterway's grayish yellow outer orbital edge encircled by a white rim against the similar muted hues in the ground cover. Hiram Chittenden's description of this site 1895 seems to describe this painting: “In this beautiful object the quiescent pool is at its best. The exquisite bordering and the deep cerulean hue of its transparent waters make it, and others like it, objects of ceaseless admiration”1

This work was probably A Pool—Yellowstone Series (oil, 30 x 25 inches), included as number 49 in the artist’s estate sale; the painting sold to an individual named W. M. Clancy. In 1928, when it was in an auction at the American Art Association, it was titled Misty Morning. Confusingly in his Catalogue G, Hale used Morning Glory Pool as an alternate title for The Emerald Pool (OP.1312).

1. Hiram Martin Chittenden, The Yellowstone National Park (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1895), p. 229.