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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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The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily, ca. 1892 (OP.1181). Fig. 1. Twachtman, The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily, engraved in n N. S. Shaler, "Sea-Beaches," Scribner's 11 (June 1892), p. 774.
Fig. 1. Twachtman, The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily, engraved in n N. S. Shaler, "Sea-Beaches," Scribner's 11 (June 1892), p. 774.
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Keywords
OP.1181
The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily
Alternate titles: The Needles; The Needles, Isles of Wight
ca. 1892
Oil on canvas
17 1/8 x 23 1/2 in. (43.5 x 59.7 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman
Location unknown
Provenance
(Samuel T. Freeman & Co., Philadelphia, March 30–31, 1925, lot 44);
(Ainslee Gallery, Philadelphia);
to J. Henry Schiedt, Philadelphia;
(Samuel T. Freeman & Co., Philadelphia, April 20, 1931, lot 149);
to Henry Peiffer, Philadelphia;
auctioned in New York after the death of Peiffer;
(Bea Orenstein);
to Murray A. Lichenstein., late 1940s or early 1950s;
to (Shannon's, Milford, Conn., November 26, 2006, lot 221).
Literature
Shaler 1892
Shaler, N. S. "Sea-Beaches." Scribner's 11 (June 1892), p. 774 ill. in b/w engraving, as The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily.
Shaler 1894
Shaler, N.S. Sea and Land: Features of Coasts and Oceans with Special Reference to the Life of Man. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1894, p. 39 ill. in b/w engraving, as The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily.
Samuel T. Freeman 1925
Auction catalogue, March 30–31, 1925. Philadelphia: Samuel T. Freeman & Co., 1925, lot 44, as The Needles, Isles of Wight.
Samuel T. Freeman 1931
Exhibition and sale. Auction catalogue, April 20, 1931. Philadelphia: Samuel T. Freeman, 1931, lot 149 ill. in b/w, as The Needles.
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. 476 (catalogue G, no. 428), as The Needles, Isles of Wight. (Hale concordance).
Shannon's 2006
Fine American and European Paintings. Auction catalogue, October 29, 2006. Milford, Conn.: Shannon's Fine Art Auctioneers, 2006, lot 221 ill. in color, as The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily.
Commentary

Hale titled this work The Needles, Isle of Wight. However, he was probably unaware that the painting was created by Twachtman for an illustration assignment. It was featured in an engraving in N. S. Shaler’s “Sea-Beaches,” published in Scribner’s in June 1892.  The caption in the article reads: “The Isles of the Cyclops, near Catania, Sicily: Showing the extremity of a lava stream much carved by the sea. The bowlders [sic] in the foreground and middle distance constitute a natural sand-factory.” Twachtman’s grisaille palette is typical of the works he created to be used for illustrations.