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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Catalogue Entry

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Keywords
OP.1209
Niagara Gorge
ca. 1893–94
Oil on canvas
30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
Warren and Jan Adelson
Exhibitions
1910 City Art Museum of St. Louis
City Art Museum of St. Louis, Fifth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, September 15–November 15, 1910, no. 229, as Niagara Gorge.
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. 22, as Niagara Gorge, lent by Mrs. Charles Cary.
1971 Burchfield Center
Buffalo, New York, Our Legacy of Art in Western New York, September–October 1971, no. 99, as Niagara Gorge.
1993 Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, Masterworks from Private Connecticut Collections, October 1993–January 1994, as Niagara Gorge, lent by The Fortier Collection.
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. 49, as Niagara Gorge, shown only in New York. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
Literature
Buffalo Evening News 1913
"Very Wide Range of Art in Coming Gallery Exhibits." Buffalo Evening News, March 8, 1913, as Niagara Gorge.
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. 65, as Niagara Gorge.
Buffalo Morning Express 1913–I
"Gallery and Studio Chat: Twachtman's Art." Buffalo Express, March 17, 1913, as Niagara Gorge.
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. 477 (catalogue G, no. 444), as Niagara Gorge. (Hale concordance).
Christie's, New York 1980–I
American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, May 22, 1980. New York: Christie's, 1980, lot 100 ill., as Niagara Gorge.
Sotheby's New York 1985–II
Important American Paintings and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, December 5, 1985. New York: Sotheby's, 1985, lot 145 ill. in color, as Niagara Gorge.
Christie's, New York 1993
19th- and 20th-Century Important Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, May 26, 1993. New York: Christie's, 1993, lot 132 ill. in color, as Niagara Gorge.
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. 364; vol. 2, p. 905 ill. in b/w (fig. 391), as Niagara Gorge.
Sotheby's New York 1998
American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, December 3, 1998. New York: Sotheby's, 1998, lot 26 ill. in color, as Niagara Gorge.
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. 176–77 ill. in color, as Niagara Gorge.
Commentary

Twachtman visited Niagara Falls twice: in the winter of 1893–94 and the summer of 1894. It seems likely that this painting is among his summertime images; it could have been the painting mentioned by Theodore Robinson in his diary entry of March 9, 1895, in which he stated stated that he had seen “one of [Twachtman’s] Niagara’s done last summer—a charming thing and very complete—light, mysterious.”

The site depicted in the work is likely to be below Horseshoe Falls, near the departure point for the ferry, the Maid of the Mist (still operating today). Turning his back on the tourists waiting for the ferry, Twachtman portrayed a view across the water, which seems to blend into the hazy atmosphere, dissolving distinctions between water and sky. 

Niagara Gorge is the only painting of Niagara Falls that is known to have been owned by Charles and Evelyn Cary, who gave Twachtman a place to stay in Buffalo when he was painting scenes of Niagara. However, they did not commission Twachtman’s Niagara series. In 1913, Evelyn Cary lent this painting to the Twachtman exhibition at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. A critic for the Buffalo Express reviewing the show, where two other Niagara scenes were on view (OP.1202 and OP.1204), perhaps had this painting in mind in the comment that it seemed in the works as if "ethereal color and form seem to have been blown onto the canvas." The critic stated: "Never does one find an opaque shadow, a harsh edge, the pressure of a heavy hand."

Selected Literature

From Buffalo Evening News 1913

His two paintings of Niagara Falls will interest Buffalonians, for he has caught the thunderous majesty and the indescribable mist, clouds, and veils.