loading loading
John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society

Catalogue Entry

enlarge
Keywords
OP.917
House in Snow
ca. 1895–99
Oil on canvas
30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
Private collection
Provenance
(Art market, by 1977);
to (Terry De Lapp Gallery, Los Angeles, 1978);
to (Hirschl & Adler, 1978);
to Steve Martin, Los Angeles;
(Zabriskie Gallery, New York);
to present collection, 1983.
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. 35, as House in Snow. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
Literature
Antiques 1977–II
Antiques 112 (December 1977), p. 1024 ill. in color, as House in Snow.
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. 24, 148–49 ill. in color, as House in Snow.
Commentary

This painting depicts a view toward the north facade of the artist's Greenwich home. Although only one dormer is in view, it is likely that a second dormer is hidden by the sapling that stands prominently in the work. Thus, House in Snow is the only work, aside from Summer (OP.918), that can be assumed to depict the back of Twachtman's home after the final phase of his renovation, which extended his home to the west, adding a second dormer in a new master bedroom suite.

Possibly the sapling, with its new coat of green leaves was the starting point for this painting. It may well have caught Twachtman's attention for having come to life when snow was still on the ground. He used it as the pivotal element in the painting. Its vertical intersects with horizontal shape of the house—rendered here in a flatter, more horizontal form than in other images such as Snowbound (OP.907) or Last Touch of Sun (OP.908). The new tree is also parallel with other young trees—which have yet to grow leaves—producing a diagonal line, consistent with the artist’s viewpoint, that opposes the diagonal of the drylaid stone wall he constructed in his back yard.