John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society
Catalogue Entry
OP.984
Bridge in the Woods
1898–1900
Oil on canvas
26 x 14 in. (66 x 35.6 cm)
Private collection
Provenance
to private collection;
to private collection, 1989;
by descent in the family to present collection.
Exhibitions
William Benton Museum, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut and American Impressionism, March 20–May 31, 1980, no. 58, p. 75 ill. in b/w, as Bridge in the Woods.
Kennedy Galleries, New York, Summit III: American Master Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, and Prints, October 21–November 28, 1987, no. 19, as Bridge in the Woods.
Greenwich Historical Society, Cos Cob, Connecticut, Life and Art: The Greenwich Paintings of John Henry Twachtman, October 19, 2022–January 22, 2023. (Peters 2021–II), no. 16, as Bridge in the Woods.
Literature
Kennedy Quarterly 15 (September 1977), p. 226 ill. in b/w, as Bridge in the Woods.
Spencer, Harold. "Reflections on Impressionism: Its Genesis and American Phase." In Connecticut and American Impressionism, by Harold Spencer, Susan G. Larkin, and Jeffrey W. Andersen. Storrs, Conn.: William Benton Museum of Art, 1980. Exhibition catalogue, p. 75 ill. in b/w, as Bridge in the Woods.
Spencer, Harold. "Connecticut's Art and Artists, (1880–1920)." In Connecticut Masters, Connecticut Treasures. Hartford, Conn.: Wadsworth Atheneum, 1989, p. 75 ill. in b/w, as Bridge in the Woods.
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, 55 ill. in b/w, as Bridge in the Woods.
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, 465 ill. in b/w (8.20), as Bridge in the Woods.
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. 85, 87 ill. in color (fig. 73), 105 ill. in color, as Bridge in the Woods.
Peters, Lisa N. "The Greenwich Paintings of John Henry Twachtman." American Art Review 33 (Fall 2021), p. 78 ill. in color, as Bridge in the Woods.
Commentary
This painting shows what seems to be the same version of the bridge portrayed in The White Bridge (OP.983), featuring a bridge close to the water and covered with a rounded awning at its center. Depicting the work in a vertical format from a close perspective, Twachtman chose a less oblique view of the sturdy structure, resulting in more pronounced foreshortening. He used a rough, sketchlike handling, especially in the land and water, but the work was not a study for The White Bridge due to Twachtman’s different angles on the scene in the two works and the unique patterns of light and shadow in them.
This painting belonged to the artist’s family until 1953.