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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.811
Cincinnati Landscape
Alternate titles: Marshes; Miami River Scene; Paysage de Cincinnati
ca. 1888
Oil on canvas
36 5/16 x 48 5/8 in. (92.2 x 123.5 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman–
Cincinnati Art Museum, Gift of the Proctor & Gamble Company (2003.110)
Provenance
J. Alden Twachtman, Greenwich, Connecticut;
to his son Dr. Eric Twachtman, Essex, Connecticut, by 1966;
to (Chapellier Galleries, New York, 1968);
to (R. H. Love Galleries, Chicago, 1980);
to (Miller Gallery, Inc., Cincinnati, 1981);
to Proctor and Gamble Company, Cincinnati, 1981;
gift to present collection, 2002.
Exhibitions
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. 7, as Marshes, lent by 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. 6, as Marshes, lent by Estate of J. H. Twachtman.
1966 Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum, John Henry Twachtman: A Retrospective Exhibition, October 7–November 20, 1966. (Exhibition catalogue: Baskett 1966); (Exhibition catalogue: Boyle 1966–I), no. 20, as Cincinnati Landscape, lent by Dr. Eric Twachtman.
1968 Spanierman
Ira Spanierman, New York, John Henry Twachtman, 1853–1902: An Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels, February 3–24, 1968, no. 6, as Cincinnati Landscape, lent by Chapellier Galleries.
1982 Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, Lines of Different Character: American Art from 1727–1947, March 31, 1982–January 8, 1983, no. 70, p. 139 ill. in color, as Paysage de Cincinnati.
Literature
Art in America 1980
Art in America 68 (January 1980), p. 43 ill. in b/w, as Cincinnati Landscape.
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. 237; vol. 2, p. 751 ill. in b/w (fig. 220), as Miami River Scene.
Commentary

Although known as Cincinnati Landscape since at least 1966, this painting is probably a view of Branchville, where Twachtman spent the summer of 1888 near Julian Alden Weir's home and where he may have returned for visits through the end of the year. It features a landscape that bears traces of having once been cultivated, in the presence of old stone walls that once defined fields. However, here it appears that the land has become fallow, as rocks are scattered across it and weeds have been allowed to grow freely. Viewing the scene from a low angle, Twachtman merged the near foliage with the more distant forms of trees, emphasizing how he saw the scene over a concern for its actual scale. He took a similar approach in three other works that probably also portray Branchville: Gray Day (OP.812), Landscape (OP.813), and Cincinnati Landscape (OP.814).