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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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Keywords
P.710
Near Paris
Alternate title: Spanish Walls
ca. 1885
Pastel on paper
7 1/2 x 10 3/4 in. (19 x 27.3 cm)
Baker/Pisano Collection
Image: Roz Akin
Provenance
Julian Alden Weir;
to his daughter G. Page Ely (nee Caroline Weir), Old Lyme, Connecticut, by 1945;
by descent in the family;
to (art market);
to (Spanierman, 2002);
to (Doyle, New York, November 5, 2013, lot 155);
to present collection, 2013.
Exhibitions
1945 Lyman Allyn Museum
Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Connecticut, Work in Many Media by Men of the Tile Club, March 11–April 23, 1945, no. 155, as Spanish Walls.
2006 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, John Twachtman (1853–1902): A "Painter's Painter," May 4–June 24, 2006. (Nelson 2006); (Parkes 2006); (Peters 2006–I); (Peters 2006–II); (Peters 2006–III); (Peters 2006–IV), no. 15, as Near Paris. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
2011 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, Seeing Abstractly: Works on Paper and Small Oils by John Henry Twachtman, December 15, 2011–January 14, 2012. (Exhibition catalogue: Peters 2011), no. 7, as Near Paris.
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. 1, p. 591 (catalogue A, no. 1006), as Near Paris. (Hale concordance).
Peters 2011
Peters, Lisa N. Seeing Abstractly: Works on Paper and Small Oils by John Henry Twachtman. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 2011. Exhibition catalogue (2011 Spanierman), pp. 4 ill. in color, 10 ill. in color, as Near Paris.
Doyle 2013–II
Modern, European, American, Contemporary, and Street Art. Auction catalogue, November 5, 2013. New York: Doyle, 2013, lot 155, ill. in color, as Near Paris.
Commentary

This unsigned pastel's first-known owner was Julian Alden Weir. In 1945, when the work was in the hands of his daughter Caroline, it was exhibited at the Lyman Allyn Museum as Spanish Walls. By the time Hale wrote his dissertation in 1957, it had become known as Near Paris. Neither title can be traced to Twachtman's lifetime. However, the fortified look of the facades and stone walls that recede on a diagonal into the distance suggest that the site is European. It was perhaps rendered in 1885, a time when Twachtman initially explored pastel, working in the medium in the summer in Holland and continuing to explore it in Venice at the end of the year.