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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.986
The Dead Blue Jay
Alternate title: Blue Jay
1880s or 1890s
Oil on canvas
10 x 15 in. (25.4 x 38.1 cm)
Location unknown
Provenance
Martha Twachtman, the artist's wife, Greenwich, Connecticut;
to Mrs. Joel T. Howard, Dallas, before 1936.
Exhibitions
1919 Macbeth
Macbeth Gallery, New York, Paintings by John H. Twachtman, January 1919, no. 17, as Blue Jay.
1940 World's Fair
World's Fair, New York, European and American Paintings, 1500-1900, May–October 1940, no. 314, as The Dead Blue Jay, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Joel T. Howard, Dallas.
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. 557 (catalogue A, no. 328), as Blue Jay. (Hale concordance).
Gerdts 1989
Gerdts, William H. "'Like Dreams of Flowers.'" In In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J. H. Twachtman, by Lisa N. Peters et al. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 1989. Exhibition catalogue (1989 Spanierman), p. 22 ill. in b/w, 23, as The Dead Blue Jay.
Commentary

This painting was described in the catalogue for the 1919 Macbeth Gallery exhibition: “This small bird, with its outstretched blue-plumaged wings, lies lifeless against a grayish blue background. The coloring is delicate and lovely and the stillness of death well suggested.” In the painting, unlocated today, Twachtman’s close and overhead vantage point enabled his sensitive study of the small lifeless bird.