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
Additional Images
Tulip Tree, Greenwich, 1890s (OP.1157). Fig. 1. Julian Alden Weir, The Tulip Tree, 1890s, pastel and watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 9 1/4 in., private collection.
Fig. 1. Julian Alden Weir, The Tulip Tree, 1890s, pastel and watercolor on paper, 13 1/4 x 9 1/4 in., private collection.
Keywords
OP.1157
Tulip Tree, Greenwich
Alternate titles: Poplar Trees; Tulip Tree
1890s
Oil on canvas
43 1/4 x 30 1/4 in. (109.9 x 76.8 cm)
Private collection
Image: Roz Akin
Provenance
Marjorie Twachtman Pell, the artist's daughter, New Canaan, Connecticut, until at least 1934;
(Knoedler, by 1956);
(Milch, by 1959);
(A.C.A. American Heritage Gallery, New York);
(Christie’s, New York, May 31, 1985, lot 245);
(A.C.A. American Heritage Gallery, New York, by 1987);
to American Express Company, 1987;
(to Spanierman and Berry-Hill Galleries, 2002);
present collection, by 2017.
Exhibitions
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. 36, as Tulip Tree, lent by Milch Galleries.
2002 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, The Spirit of America: American Art from 1829 to 1970, November 1, 2002–February 15, 2003, no. 42, as Tulip Tree.
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. 28, as Tulip Tree, Greenwich. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
Literature
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. 574 (catalogue A, no. 634), as Poplar Trees. (Hale concordance).
Christie's, New York 1985–II
Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries. Auction catalogue, May 31, 1985. New York: Christie's, 1985, lot 245 ill. in color, as Tulip Tree, Greenwich.
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. 134–35 ill. in color, as Tulip Tree, Greenwich.
Commentary

The work is listed in Hale 1957 as Poplar Trees. Tulip tree is another name for the poplar. In The Tulip Tree (fig. 1), a work in pastel and watercolor, Julian Alden Weir created a work that is similar in composition. Each artist interpreted the subject differently. In Weir’s scene, windswept trees fill the picture plane. In Twachtman’s, each tree seems to have a life of its own. In the foreground tree, an upper canopy opens to the sky while its scaffold branches, heavy with leaves, bend downward.