John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society
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Lake under the Hills, ca. 1884 (OP.721). Fig. 1. Arques-la-Bataille environs.
Fig. 1. Arques-la-Bataille environs.
Image: Lisa N. Peters
Lake under the Hills, ca. 1884 (OP.721). Fig. 2. OP.721, Lake under the Hills, detail with signature by Thomas Dewing.
Fig. 2. OP.721, Lake under the Hills, detail with signature by Thomas Dewing.
Lake under the Hills, ca. 1884 (OP.721). Verso: OP.721, Lake under the Hills.
Verso: OP.721, Lake under the Hills.
Keywords
OP.721
Lake under the Hills
Alternate titles: Landscape; River under the Hills; The Lake Under the Hill
ca. 1884
Oil on canvas
15 x 22 in. (38.1 x 55.9 cm)
[Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman / Signed by / T. W. Dewing]
Private collection
Exhibitions
1920 Dallas Art Association
Dallas Art Association, Adolphus Hotel, Second Annual Exhibition: American and European Art, April 7–21, 1920, no. 272, as The Lake Under the Hill, lent by Milch Gallery.
Literature
American Art Association 1919–I
Sale of American Paintings Belonging to Mr. N. E. Montross. Auction catalogue, February 27, 1919. New York: American Art Association, 1919, lot 40, as Lake under the Hills.
New York Herald 1919–II
"Montross is Seen as Art Connoisseur." New York Herald, February 22, 1919, p. 7, as Lake under the Hills.
New York Herald 1919–III
"New Sale Records for American Art." New York Herald, February 28, 1919, p. 9, as Lake under the Hills.
Clark 1924
Clark, Eliot. John Twachtman. New York: privately printed, 1924, p. 40, as Landscape.
American Art Association 1926
Auction catalogue, January 28–29, 1926. New York: American Art Association, 1926, lot 149, as Lake under the Hills.
American Art Association 1933
Auction catalogue, January 19, 1933. New York: American Art Association, 1933, lot 77, as Lake under the Hills.
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, pp. 464–65 (catalogue G, no. 330a and 330b), as Lake under the Hills. (Hale concordance).
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. 201; vol. 2, p. 713 ill. in b/w (fig. 178), as Lake under the Hills.
Commentary

This painting was listed as Lake under the Hills in a 1919 sale of works belonging to N. E. Montross. Although no earlier title for the work is known that would indicate its site, the locale is assuredly Arques-la-Bataille, the Normandy town where Twachtman spent the summer of 1884. This is suggested in the landscape, with its steep hills stretching horizontally over the valley with a quiet waterway below it. In the painting, a tall tree appears to rise above the hills. This is due to the fact that it was closer to the artist than the hills, but it is also representative of such trees, that were protected and allowed to continue to grow due to their longevity. Such trees can be seen even today in the countryside (fig. 1).  

In the painting, Twachtman conveyed his own presence in the landscape in the wildflowers directly before him in the foreground, his close attention to the scene's atmospheric light, and the tall tree. At the same time, he created a carefully conceived symmetrical design in which the horizontals of the water and sky are counterbalanced by the vertical tree and its reflection. As a result, he indicated that the work was as much a reflection of what he experienced as an artistic conception.    

This painting is signed not by Twachtman, but by his friend Thomas Dewing, who aided Twachtman’s widow in selling his work. A faint shadow of what was probably Dewing’s first attempt to sign the work is above his more distinct signature (fig. 2). 

Selected Literature

From American Art Association 1919–I

A lake so subtly painted and with reflections so delicate and elusive that it might be well called a lake of dreams. Many things are mirrored there. The eye flits across the surface and seeks the distant shore, faintly seen, and on to the low hill which is beautifully felt rather than drawn. The few trees are gracious, and the flowers in the near right foreground give the foil of strength to help us feel the subtlety of these tones of gray. It is at once a painter's picture and a dreamer's poem.

From Clark 1924

The “Landscape,” formerly owned by Mr. Montross, is a characteristic example, simple in the treatment of line, and decorative in the spotting of the mass. Very thinly painted, it has almost the aspect of water color.