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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
OP.978
Sailing
ca. 1895
Oil on canvas
30 1/8 x 25 1/8 in. (76.5 x 63.8 cm)
Signed lower right: J. H. Twachtman
Private collection
Provenance
(Milch, ca. 1930s);
to Mr. and Mrs. William M. Fuller;
by descent in the family to present collection.
Exhibitions
1901–I Durand-Ruel probably
Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, Paintings and Pastels by John H. Twachtman, March 4–16, 1901, as Sailing.1905 Knoedler
M. Knoedler & Co, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Pictures by John H. Twachtman, January 2–11, 1905, no. 5, as Sailing.1905 Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum, Twelfth Annual Exhibition of American Art, May 20–July 10, 1905, no. 4, as Sailing, lent by Silas S. Dustin, New York.1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial
Portland, Oregon, Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, June 1–October 14, 1905, no. 103, as Sailing, lent by Silas S. Dustin, New York.1909 Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum, Sixteenth Annual Exhibition of American Art, May 22–July 20, 1909, no. 4, as Sailing, lent by Silas S. Dustin, New York.1909 Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago, Twenty-Second Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists, October 19–November 28, 1909, no. 258, as Sailing, lent by Silas S. Dustin, New York.1913 New York School of Applied Design for Women
New York School of Applied Design for Women, Fifty Paintings by the Late John H. Twachtman, January 15–February 15, 1913, no. 5, as Sailing, lent by the estate of J. H. Twachtman.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. 4, as Sailing, lent by the the estate of J. H. Twachtman.1913–II Albright Art Gallery
Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, New York, Eighth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, May 10–August 31, 1913, no. 119, as Sailing, lent by the estate of J. H. Twachtman.1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Department of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, February 20–December 4, 1915, no. 4056, as Sailing.1918 Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit Institute of Arts, Fourth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, April 9–30, 1918, no. 114, as Sailing.1922 Cincinnati Art Museum.
Cincinnati Art Museum, The Twenty-Ninth Annual Exhibition of American Art, May 27–July 31, 1922, no. 24, as Sailing.1928 Milch
Milch Galleries, New York, An Important Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by John H. Twachtman, March 12–24, 1928, no. 4, as Sailing.1932 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum, New York, Exhibition of Paintings by American Impressionists and Other Artists of the Period 1880–1900, January 18–February 28, 1932, no. 110, as Sailing.1936–II Milch
Milch Galleries, New York, A Selected Group of Paintings by American Artists, September 1936, no. 5, as Sailing.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. 60, as Sailing, lent by Milch Gallery, New York.1939 Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, Presenting the Work of John H. Twachtman, American Painter, November 5–28, 1939, no. 19, as Sailing, lent by Milch Galleries.1942–I Babcock
Babcock Galleries, New York, Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels by John H. Twachtman, February 9–28, 1942, no. 5, as Sailing.1946 Montclair Art Museum
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, American Paintings by the Ten, January 1–February 10, 1946, no. 32, as Sailing, lent by Milch Galleries.1949 Milch
Milch Galleries, New York, Paintings by John H. Twachtman, November 14–December 3, 1949, no. 14, as Sailing.1959 American Academy of Arts and Letters
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, The Impressionist Mood in American Painting, January 16–February 15, 1959, no. 64, as Sailing, lent by Milch Galleries.1978 Amon Carter Museum of Western Art
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, American Impressionist and Realist Paintings and Drawings from the William Marshall Fuller Collection, May 25–July 16, 1978, p. 54 ill. in b/w (fig. 60), as Sailing.Literature
New-York Commercial Advertiser 1901–I
"The Art-World. Mr. Twachtman at Durand Ruel's." New-York Commercial Advertiser, March 5, 1901, 4, as Sailing.Sun 1903–II
"Twachtman Pictures, $16,610." Sun (New York), March 25, 1903, p. 5, as Sailing.New York Times 1903–III
"Twachtman Picture Sale." New York Times, March 25, 1903, p. 5, as Sailing.American Art News 1909
"Chicago." American Art News 8 (October 30, 1909), p. 2, as Sailing.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. 66, as Sailing.Art News 1939
"Utica: A Retrospective of Twachtman." Art News 38 (November 1939), p. 16, as Sailing.Art News 1949
"Reviews and Previews: John H. Twachtman." Art News 48 (November 1, 1949), pp. 46 ill, in b/w 47, as Sailing.Reed 1949
Reed, Judith Kaye. "Twachtman's Sensitive Poetry." Art Digest 24 (November 15, 1949), p. 17, as Sailing.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. 487 (catalogue G, no. 520), as Sailing. (Hale concordance).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. 315; vol. 2, p. 858 ill. in b/w (fig. 342), as Sailing.Commentary
Twachtman’s Sailing in the Mist images, depicting solitary boats and their solo passengers, evoke the Voyage of Life theme, represented notably by Thomas Cole in his four-painting series of 1842, depicting four stages of human life in depictions of a voyager traveling by boat down a river. Here a small figure sits passively in a boat’s aft. With wind in its sail, the vessel moves toward a shoal, suggesting a difficult passage ahead.
The painting was in the artist’s estate until sometime in the 1930s. During this time, it was lent frequently by Silas S. Dustin, the agent for the estate, to important exhibitions, including the Lewis and Clark Centennial in Portland, Oregon, in 1905, and San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. It was perhaps purchased by Milch Galleries shortly before Martha Twachtman’s death in 1935. In 1937 Milch lent it to Leaders of American Impressionism, at the Brooklyn Museum, which featured the work of Twachtman along with that of Cassatt, Hassam, and Weir.
Selected Literature
From Art News 1939
In the picture Sailing, one is gripped with the joy of activity. [Twachtman’s] suggestive manner makes you grasp the essential forms of natural objects. Convinced of their reality the eye is free to explore the scene. The sweeping lines of the current bring you to the farther shore for a brief glance of the misty wooded area and back again to the boat and its reflection as it passes.