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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.1152
Autumn Mists
Alternate titles: Autumn Freshet; Autumn Mist; Morning Mist
1890s
Oil on canvas
25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman–
Private collection
Image: Roz Akin
Provenance
(Silas S. Dustin, New York, agent for the artist’s estate, by 1905);
Burton Mansfield, New Haven, Connecticut, by 1907);
to (American Art Association—Anderson Galleries, New York, Mansfield sale, April 7, 1933, lot 69);
to (Knoedler):
Dr. and Mrs. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania, by 1957;
to (Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York, by 1969);
Dr. Simon Joseph, White Plains, New York, 1969;
(M. Knoedler & Co., New York, by 1975);
to (Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, October 27, 1977, lot 37);
(Galleries Maurice Sternberg, Chicago);
(Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York);
(Sotheby’s, New York, December 3, 1998, lot 27);
to private collection, 1998;
to (Christie’s, New York, November 29, 2001, lot 68);
to (Spanierman, 2001);
to present collection, 2006.
Exhibitions
1907–I Lotos Club
Lotos Club, New York, Exhibition of Paintings by the Late John H. Twachtman, January 5–31, 1907, no. 23, as Morning Mist, loaned by Mr. Burton Mansfield.
1911–I Carnegie Institute probably
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Fifteenth Annual International Exhibition, April 27–June 30, 1911, no. 13, as Autumn Freshet.
1911–II Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Loan Exhibition of Paintings in Oil, Water Color, and Pastel from the Collection of Mr. Burton Mansfield, of New Haven, Connecticut, August 1–December 30, 1911, no. 63, as Autumn Mist.
1912 Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Paintings from the Collection of Burton Mansfield, Esq, New Haven, Connecticut, May 22–September 1, 1912, no. 43, as Autumn Mists.
1920 Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, Exhibition of Paintings, Pottery, and Glass Loaned by the Hon. Burton Mansfield of New Haven, April 13–November 1, 1920, no. 29, as Autumn Mists.
1967 Gallery of Modern Art
Gallery of Modern Art, New York, Selections from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. T. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania, January 3–March 12, 1967, p. 60, as Autumn Mists. Traveled to: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Spring 1967; Denver Art Museum, February 22–April 30, 1968.
1969 Bernard Danenberg Galleries
Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York, One Hundred Recent Acquisitions by American Artists, Spring–Summer 1969, no. 92, p. 45 ill. in b/w, as Autumn Mists.
1969 Hudson River Museum
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, Art in Westchester from Private Collections, September 28–November 2, 1969, no. 36, n.p. ill. in b/w, as Autumn Mists.
1975 Knoedler
M. Knoedler & Co, New York, A Selection of Recent Acquisitions from the American Department, November–December 1975, as Autumn Mists, listed in the checklist.
1976 Knoedler
Knoedler Galleries, New York, The American Impressionists, February 3–March 6, 1976, as Autumn Mists (listed in the checklist).
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. 44, as Autumn Mists. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
Literature
American Art Association—Anderson Galleries 1933
American Landscapes: The Private Collection of the Late Burton Mansfield. Auction catalogue, April 7, 1933. New York: American Art Association—Anderson Galleries, 1933, lot 69 ill. in b/w, as Autumn Mists.
Art News 1933
"Coming Auctions: American--Anderson Galleries--Mansfield Paintings." Art News 31 (April 1, 1933), p. 11, as Autumn Mists.
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. 539 (catalogue A, no. 27), as Autumn Mists. (Hale concordance).
Antiques 1973–I
Antiques 113 (May 1973), p. 903 ill. in color, as Autumn Mists.
Antiques 1975–II
Antiques 108 (December 1975), p. 1040 ill. in color, as Autumn Mists.
Boyle 1978
Boyle, Richard J. "John H. Twachtman: An Appreciation." American Art & Antiques 1 (November–December 1978), p. 77 ill. in color, as Autumn Mists.
Sotheby's New York 1998
American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, December 3, 1998. New York: Sotheby's, 1998, lot 27 ill. in color, as Autumn Mists.
Christie's, New York 2001–II
Auction catalogue, November 29, 2001. New York: Christie's, 2001, lot 68 ill. in color, as Autumn Mists.
Peters 2005–I
Peters, Lisa N. "'Spiritualized Naturalism': The Tonal-Impressionist Art of J. Alden Weir and John H. Twachtman." In The Poetic Vision: American Tonalism, by Ralph Sessions et al. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 2005. Exhibition catalogue, p. 85, as Autumn Mists.
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. 166–67 ill. in color, as Autumn Mists.
Commentary

The location depicted here is likely to be Horseneck Pond, situated to the southwest of Twachtman's Greenwich home. The work is reminiscent of the artist's French period masterpiece and Paris Salon submission, Arques-la-Bataille (OP.731) in its symmetry and horizontality, enabling the viewer to notice its subtleties. The large tree forms an optical illusion, seeming to be both present in the foreground reflection as well as on the opposite hillside.

Autumn Mists was probably the work lent as Morning Mist lent to the memorial exhibition of Twachtman's work at the Lotos Club by Burton Mansfield, a New Haven lawyer and collector of new works by American Tonalists.[1] The painting was included in the show of Mansfield’s collection at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1912, and in the sale of works from Mansfield’s estate, held at the American Art Association in 1933, from which it was purchased by Knoedler Galleries. Somewhat later, the painting was owned by the painter, art historian, and art dealer Leroy Ireland (1889–1970), and by 1957 it was in the collection of the oil and gas magnate T. Edward Hanley of Bradford, Pennsylvania, who donated his vast collection of books, manuscripts, paintings, and art to Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Texas. Autumn Mists was probably part of Hanley’s estate at his death in 1969 and since then has changed hands several times.

[1] On Mansfield, see Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County (New York: S. J. Clarke, 1918), vol. 2, pp. 189–90. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ctnhvbio/Mansfield_Burton.html.