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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Additional Images
San Trovaso Square, Venice, ca. 1878 (OP.210). Fig. 1. Rio di San Trovaso, Venice, 1905, Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs, Washington, D.C.
Fig. 1. Rio di San Trovaso, Venice, 1905, Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs, Washington, D.C.
San Trovaso Square, Venice, ca. 1878 (OP.210). Fig. 2. Zattere ai Gesuati, with view of the church of San Trovaso (Chiesa di S. Gervasio e Protasio), 2015.
Fig. 2. Zattere ai Gesuati, with view of the church of San Trovaso (Chiesa di S. Gervasio e Protasio), 2015.
Image: Lisa N. Peters
Keywords
OP.210
San Trovaso Square, Venice
Alternate titles: Canal Scene; Canal Scene, Venice; Lo Squero di San Trovaso; Venice
ca. 1878
Oil on canvas laid down on board
7 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (19 x 26.7 cm)
Private collection
Exhibitions
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. 5, as Venice, lent by Colonel J. Alden Twachtman, Greenwich.
1997 Foundation Giorgio Cini
Foundation Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy, Venezia da Stato a Mito, August 30–November 30, 1997, no. 111, pp. 282 ill. in color, 392–93, as Lo Squero di San Trovaso.
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. 544 (catalogue A, no. 119), as Canal Scene, Venice. (Hale concordance).
Christie's, New York 1992–II
18th-, 19th-, 20th-Century American Paintings and Watercolors. Auction catalogue, September 23, 1992. New York: Christie's, 1992, lot 137 ill. in color, as Canal Scene.
Doyle 1994
Auction catalogue, November 9, 1994. New York: Doyle, 1994, lot 119 ill. in b/w, as Venice.
Gerdts 1997
Gerdts, William H. "'Un Sogno di Bellezza e di Colore': Pittori Americani a Venezia." In Venezia da Stato a Mito, ed. Alessandro Bettagno. Venice: Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 1997, pp. 282 ill. in color, 392–93, as Lo Squero di San Trovaso.
Peters 1999–I
Peters, Lisa N. John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist. Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 1999. Exhibition catalogue (1999 High Museum of Art), p. 27 ill. in color, as San Trovaso Square, Venice.
Commentary

On his first trip to Venice in 1877–78, Twachtman resided in the Dorsoduro sestiere near the San Trovaso boatyard, featured in this painting (figs. 1–2). Throughout the work, he emphasized varied and shifting properties of light and shadow, while creating a remarkably accurate image. From his high vantage point, his gaze was on a wide angle down the Rio di San Trovaso. The reflections of the buildings at the right shimmer in the canal and pedestrians are dark shapes against the softly lit facades. At the left is the boatyard, within which a profile view of the pediment on the front facade of the San Trovaso church can be seen just below the tower of the church’s campanile, which glistens in full sunlight. 

This painting still belonged to the artist’s son Alden at the time of the 1966 Twachtman retrospective at the Cincinnati Art Museum.