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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.707
View of the Seine, Neuilly
Alternate titles: View of the Seine; View on the Seine
ca. 1883–85
Oil on panel
13 1/4 x 15 1/2 in. (33.7 x 39.4 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Howard S. Wilson Memorial Collection
Provenance
Desmond Fitzgerald, Brookline, Massachusetts;
to (American Art Association, New York, Fitzgerald sale, April 22–23, 1927, lot 71, as View of the Seine);
to Albert E. McVitty, Princeton, New Jersey;
by descent to Albert E. McVitty Jr., Princeton, New Jersey, 1940;
to present collection, 1966.
Exhibitions
1885 J. Eastman Chase's Gallery possibly
J. Eastman Chase's Gallery, Boston, Paintings by John H. Twachtman, February 10–20, 1885, no. 7, as View on the Seine.
1937 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum, New York, Leaders of American Impressionism: Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, John H. Twachtman, and J. Alden Weir, October 17–November 28, 1937, no. 58, as View of the Seine, Neuilly, lent by Albert E. McVitty, Princeton, N.J
1980 Henry Art Gallery
Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, American Impressionism, January 3–March 2, 1980, p. 69 ill. in b/w, as View of the Seine, Neuilly. Traveled to: Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, March 9–May 4, 1980; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, May 16–June 22, 1980; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, July 1–August 31, 1980.
1985 Nassau County Museum of Fine Art
Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn, New York, The European Experience in the 19th Century, June 2–September 2, 1985, as View of the Seine, Neuilly.
Literature
American Art Association 1927
Paintings by the Impressionists: Collection of the Late Desmond FitzGerald. Auction catalogue, April 22–23, 1927. New York: American Art Association, 1927, lot 71, as View of the Seine.
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. 568 (catalogue A, no. 534), as View of the Seine, Neuilly. (Hale concordance).
Gerdts 1980
Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. Seattle: Henry Art Gallery, 1980. Exhibition catalogue, p. 69 ill. in b/w, as View of the Seine, Neuilly.
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery 1988
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. The American Painting Collection of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Published on Occasion of the Centennial of the Nebraska Art Association, 1888–1988. Lincoln, Nebr.: Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, 1988. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 354–55 ill. in b/w, as View of the Seine, Neuilly.
Commentary

This painting is possibly one of the three views of the Seine included in Twachtman's February 1885 exhibition at J. Easman Chase's Gallery, Boston. In the work, his view is across a waterway toward the distance, where what appears to be a mountain peak indicates that the site could not be Neuilly, a commune to the west of Paris. Neuilly would have been accessible to Twachtman while he was living from 1883 to 1885 in an apartment in Paris's seventeenth arrondissement. However, there is no evidence of this title or of other Neuilly works from Twachtman's lifetime. The view relates to two other similar images, Mouth of the Seine (OP.705) and Canal Scene (OP.706). Directly associated with the work is the etching, Four Boats (E.706), a light and airy version of the scene, depicted in reverse. Twachtman possibly created the etching after the painting. However, the differences in the two works, such as a boat anchored on the water rather than at the shore, suggest that he worked simultaneously on his medium-sized panel and his small etching plate, seeking to record the different ways he perceived this scene with a slight shift in his viewpoint. Possibly he rendered both in the early morning when the boats were still at anchor and the sun was low.  

The painting's first-known owner was Desmond Fitzgerald (1846–1926), a hydraulic engineer who played an important role in developing waterworks in many cities in the northeast. An avid art collector, Fitzgerald met and befriended Claude Monet and established a private art gallery; its holdings were sold at auction in 1927, a year after his death, including this painting, which was listed as View of the Seine in the sale.[1]

The work's next owner, the Princeton, New Jersey, art collector Albert McVitty (1876–1948) may have given it its current title.

[1] A photograph of Fitzgerald’s art gallery is featured on the website of the Brookline Historical Society, Massachusetts. http://www.brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/events/Peabody/Fitzgerald.pdf. Correspondence related to Twachtman can be found in the Fitzgerald papers in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

From American Art Association 1927

The river runs in a narrow channel through the center of the composition, and boats and barges are moored in the stream. Over the tops of the boats the eyes travel to the horizon on the right of the picture, while along the left runs the irregular bank.