Catalogue Entry
On his trips to Niagara (winter 1893–94 and summer 1894), Twachtman tended to portray the same scene in two works, rendered at different times of day, and this painting is his complement to Niagara Falls (OP.1204). Both works feature Table Rock on the Canadian side of Niagara. However, the two paintings are in different formats, and Twachtman may have felt this square-shaped canvas to be less successful, as he seems to have left it unfinished. The foreground rocks are unresolved, Table Rock at the right is not well defined, and the sky seems comprised of only white paint, making it look flat rather than atmospheric. Nonetheless, it is evident that the artist's emphasis was on capturing a dense mist that seems to emanate from within the canvas itself, making the painting one that has an impact on the viewer comparable to how he experienced the scene.
On the painting's lower left are what appear to be the letters "AC" in purple paint against an ocher layer over a purple ground. It is unclear whether these are actually letters that were originally part of a signature or just underground left visible.
One backstory about this painting is that it was found in the attic of the Twachtman home on Round Hill Road in Greenwich. However, no confirmation of this has come to light. The painting first surfaced on the New York art market in the late 1980s and it was accepted by the Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné committee in 2000, as a work by the artist that he probably left unfinished.