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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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Additional Images
The White Bridge, ca. 1897 (OP.981). OP.981, The White Bridge, detail with signature.
OP.981, The White Bridge, detail with signature.
The White Bridge, ca. 1897 (OP.981). Fig. 1. Katsushika Hokusai, Old View of the Boat Bridge at Sano in Kōzuke Province, from Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces, ca. 1830, color woodblock print, 10 × 14 7/8 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Howard Mansfield Collection, purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936 (JP2547).
Fig. 1. Katsushika Hokusai, Old View of the Boat Bridge at Sano in Kōzuke Province, from Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces, ca. 1830, color woodblock print, 10 × 14 7/8 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Howard Mansfield Collection, purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936 (JP2547).
Related Work
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Keywords
OP.981
The White Bridge
Alternate titles: The Bridge; The New Bridge
ca. 1897
Oil on canvas
29 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. (74.9 x 74.9 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman
The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. And Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection (1937.1042)
Provenance
Alexander Morten;
to (American Art Association, New York, May 9–11, 1916, lot 78);
(Macbeth);
to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ryerson;
to present collection, 1937.
Exhibitions
1898 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts probably
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Sixty-Seventh Annual Exhibition, January 10–February 22, 1898, no. 443, as The New Bridge.
1898 Ten American Painters probably
Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, First Exhibition: Ten American Painters, March 31–April 16, 1898, no. 34, as The New Bridge.
1898 St. Botolph Club
St. Botolph Club, Boston, An Exhibition of Paintings by Ten American Painters, April 25–May 14, 1898, no. 7, as The New Bridge, see Boston Evening Transcript 1898.
1913 New York School of Applied Design for Women
New York School of Applied Design for Women, Fifty Paintings by the Late John H. Twachtman, January 15–February 15, 1913, no. 36, as The Bridge, lent by Alexander Morten, Esq.
1913–I Albright Art Gallery
Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, Paintings and Pastels by the Late John H. Twachtman, March 11–April 2, 1913, no. 27, as The Bridge, lent by Alexander Morten, Esq.
1939–I Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago, Summer Exhibition, July 20–October 29, 1939, as The White Bridge.
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. 59, as The White Bridge, lent by the Art Institute of Chicago.
1989–II National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., District of Columbia, John Twachtman: Connecticut Landscapes, October 15, 1989–January 28, 1990. (Exhibition catalogue: Chotner 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Pyne 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Peters 1989–I), no. 18, p. 106 ill. in color, as The White Bridge. Traveled to: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, March 18–May 20, 1990.
1999 High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist, February 26–May 21, 2000. (Peters 1999–I), no. 22, as The White Bridge. Traveled to: Cincinnati Art Museum, June 6–September 5, 1999; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, October 16, 1999–January 2, 2000.
Literature
Boston Evening Transcript 1898 probably
"The Fine Arts: Exhibition by Ten American Painters at the St. Botolph Club." Boston Evening Transcript, April 27, 1898, p. 16, as The New Bridge.
Des Moines Register 1898 probably
"Ten American Painters: The Seceders from Orthodox Society Give Their Exhibition." Des Moines Register, April 3, 1898, p. 16, as The New Bridge.
Independent 1898–I probably
"Fine Arts: The Exhibit of the 'Ten American Painters." Independent 50 (April 7, 1898), p. 10, as The New Bridge.
New-York Tribune 1898–II probably
"Art Exhibitions: 'Ten American Painters.'" New-York Tribune, March 30, 1898, p. 7, as The New Bridge.
New York Times 1898–III probably
"American Painters Display." New York Times, March 30, 1898, p. 6, as The White Bridge.
Buffalo Evening News 1913
"Very Wide Range of Art in Coming Gallery Exhibits." Buffalo Evening News, March 8, 1913, as The White Bridge.
American Art Association 1916
Valuable Ancient and Modern Paintings. Auction catalogue. May 9–11, 1916. New York: American Art Association, 1916, lot 78, as The White Bridge.
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. 542–43 (catalogue A, no. 78), as The White Bridge. (Hale concordance).
Ledes 1989
Ledes, Allison Eckardt. "Current and Coming: The Mature Years of John Henry Twachtman." Antiques 136 (November 1989), p. 942 ill. in color, as The White Bridge.
Peters 1989–I
Peters, Lisa N. "Twachtman's Greenwich Paintings: Context and Chronology." In John Twachtman: Connecticut Landscapes, by Deborah Chotner, Lisa N. Peters, and Kathleen A. Pyne. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1989. Exhibition catalogue (1989–II National Gallery of Art), p. 40, as The White Bridge.
May 1990
May, Stephen. "Twachtman at the Wadsworth Atheneum." Art Times (March 1990), p. 9, as The White Bridge.
Schwendenwien 1990
Schwendenwien, Jude. "Twachtman: A Painter of Landscapes." Hartford Courant, May 6, 1990, p. G6, as The White Bridge.
Gerdts 1990–VI
Gerdts, William H. "The Ten: A Critical Chronology." In Ten American Painters, by William H. Gerdts et al. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 1990. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 130 ill. in b/w, 131, as The White Bridge.
Peters 1994
Peters, Lisa N. "The Suburban Aesthetic: John Twachtman's White Bridge." Porticus: Journal of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester 17–19 (1994–96), pp. 51–53 ill. ill. in b/w, as The White Bridge.
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. 388; vol. 2, p. 937 ill. in b/w (fig. 423), as The White Bridge.
Larkin 1996
Larkin, Susan G. "'A Regular Rendezvous for Impressionists:' The Cos Cob Art Colony 1882–1920." Ph.D. dissertation, 1996. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microforms, 1996, pp. xxviii, 232, 234, 466 ill. in b/w (8.21), as The White Bridge.
Barter and Rhodes 1998
Barter, Judith A., and Kimberly Rhodes. American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 270–72 ill. in color, as The White Bridge.
Larkin 1998
Larkin, Susan G. "On Home Ground: John Twachtman and the Familiar Landscape." American Art Journal 29 (1998), pp. 71, 73, 76–77, 79 ill. in b/w, 80, 83, as The White Bridge.
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), pp. 101–102 ill. in color, as The White Bridge.
Larkin 2001–I
Larkin, Susan G. The Cos Cob Art Colony: Impressionists on the Connecticut Shore. New York: National Academy of Design in association with Yale University, 2001. Exhibition catalogue (2001 National Academy of Design), pp. 194–95 ill. in color, as The White Bridge.
Peters 2021–II
Peters, Lisa N. Life and Art: The Greenwich Paintings of John Henry Twachtman. Cos Cob, Conn.: Greenwich Historical Society, 2021. Exhibition catalogue (2022 Greenwich Historical Society), pp. 84 ill. in color (fig. 68), 85, as The White Bridge.
Commentary

On January 7, 1898, Twachtman wrote to Harrison S. Morris at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA): “The ‘White Bridge’ sent you this year is not the one you had last year. I built a new bridge and this is a new picture.”[1] With little doubt, the “new picture” to which he refers is this painting. The letter indicates that described in it is a different bridge than the one depicted in a work by Twachtman titled The Bridge, which was shown at the PAFA annual in the previous year, most likely The White Bridge (OP.980). Below his signature on the letter, Twachtman wrote: “Change name of new “White Bridge” if you like.” [2] Twachtman may have been somewhat confused because the bridge painting shown at PAFA in 1896–97 was titled The Bridge; however, it was then shown at the National Academy of Design in April–May as The White Bridge. To make a distinction between the two works, Morris took Twachtman’s recommendation and gave the title of The New Bridge to the work in the 1898 PAFA annual. Twachtman painted a second view of this version of the bridge in The Little Bridge (OP.982), which appears to portray the scene from the opposite direction, looking south, whereas here he appears to be looking north toward Horseneck Falls.  

After The New Bridge was exhibited at PAFA, it was sent with the same title to the first exhibition of the Ten American Painters, held March–April in New York and April–May in Boston. Reviews of these shows confirm the identity of the painting. A writer for the New York Daily Tribune described The New Bridge as “extremely deft in its expression of the freshness of the trees, the brightness of the color, the movement of the brook, which crosses the canvas.” The Independent saw charm in the New Bridge, mentioning the “spring greenness of the brook-bank and the trees” in the painting in which “the New Bridge” was “seen through the tender foliage.” A critic reviewing the Boston Ten exhibition for the Boston Evening Transcript commented: “the ‘New Bridge’ has one very pleasant note in it, and that is the filmy cloud of pale green foliage in the willow tree in very early spring.”

In his White Bridges, Twachtman relied on Japanese prints for ideas. In The White Bridge (OP.983), he used a raised arch bridge such as those in Japanese gardens as his model. Here he employed a zigzag structure resembling that in Hokusai’s Old View of the Boat Bridge at Sano in Kōzuke Province (fig. 1). However, he formed a more compressed span than in such an example and positioned a gazebo over the crossing that owes in its latticework construction to Arts and Crafts designs.

His viewpoint in this painting was looking north up Horseneck Brook. The rocky brook bed is visible in the upper left. In the right foreground, the brook widens and flattens as it moves southward beyond Twachtman's property. In a related work depicting the same version of the bridge, The Little Bridge (OP.982), Twachtman seems to have taken an opposing perspective, looking south, and emphasizing a view beneath the bridge where the waterway quickened. 

While the bridge, may have been necessary due to the width of the brook in the spring and the height of its banks, it was also intended for aesthetic enjoyment. The gazebo at its center provided a place of shade for the artist’s family to rest and look out at the water flowing by. Using a square canvas, in which the bridge and brook are on opposing diagonals, Twachtman also underscored the work with the dynamic asymmetry that owes to Japanese prints.

By the time the painting was shown in 1913 in the two solo exhibitions of Twachtman’s work, it was titled The White Bridge, making it seem as if it might be the same bridge as in OP.980. However, Twachtman’s letter to Morris, only recently discovered, clarifies that it was assuredly the second of two bridges built by the artist over the brook.  

The painting’s first-known owner was the New York collector art Alexander Morten, who sold it at the American Art Gallery in New York in 1916. Macbeth Gallery later sold the painting to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ryerson of Chicago, who included it in a gift to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1937. The son of a Chicago lumber baron of the same name, Martin Ryerson (1856–1932) was a lawyer and businessman who was one of the Art Institute’s founding trustees. His collection included works from the classical era to the twentieth century.

[1] Morris was secretary/managing director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, from 1892 to 1905.

[2] Twachtman to Harrison Morris, January 7, 1898. 

Selected Literature

From Larkin 1996

Like his Asian counterparts, Twachtman contrasted the man-made forms of architecture with the softer forms of the surrounding vegetation. In the Chicago painting, for example, we view the bridge through a delicate veil of newly-budded willow saplings—a compositional device borrowed from Japanese prints. The slender supports of the bridge echo the whip-like branches of the young trees. The juxtaposition of nature and culture is most pronounced near the center of the canvas, in the side-by-side placement of the upright post of the bridge and the trunk of the largest tree, which swells and curves organically in contrast to the post’s rigid vertical. To their right, the oblique slant of a sapling is woven into the pattern of the diagonal lattice. Behind the bridge, an aureole of pale foliage blends the white-painted architecture with the verdant plants [p. 234].

From Larkin 2001–I

In another painting of the bridge (fig. 130), a zigzag jut in the span is more readily apparent than in the version now in the Georgia Museum of Art (see fig 128 [OP.982]). A zigzag span, which slows the pedestrian’s pace and insistently reorients the gaze, is also derived from Asian models. The most famous example is the Eight-Plank Bridge, celebrated in Japanese literature, paintings, decorative arts, and woodblock prints (fig. 131), where nature lovers came every spring to meander above the blooming irises. Instead of eight changes of direction, Twachtman’s diminutive footbridge permitted only one, but that was sufficient to direct the gaze upstream and down [p. 194].