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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Keywords
OP.1203
Niagara
Alternate title: Niagara Falls
ca. 1893–94
Oil on canvas
30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
Signed lower right: J. H. Twachtman
Peter Findlay Gallery, New York, and David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York
Exhibitions
1949 Milch
Milch Galleries, New York, Paintings by John H. Twachtman, November 14–December 3, 1949, no. 8, as Niagara Falls.
Literature
Tucker 1931
Tucker, Allen. John H. Twachtman. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1931, p. 29 ill. in b/w, as Niagara.
American Art Association—Anderson Galleries 1935–II
The J. K. Newman Collection of Important Paintings by American and French XIX–XX Century Artists. Auction catalogue, December 6, 1935. New York: American Art Association—Anderson Galleries, 1935, lot 27 ill. in b/w, as Niagara Falls.
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, pp. 561–62 (catalogue A, no. 440), as Niagara. (Hale concordance).
Commentary

Twachtman created two versions at different times of day of most of his Niagara subjects; this canvas's counterpart is Niagara Falls (OP.1202), which also measures thirty-inches square. Both paintings depict a view toward Bridal Veil Falls as seen from the Cave of the Winds.[1] Whereas in Niagara Falls Twachtman focused on the translucent shimmer of sunlight filtering through a fine mist, perhaps in the late morning, here the spray makes a more palpable, denser mist, perhaps in the afternoon, that seems to gather at the base of the falls and to even obscure them. As in his other Niagara scenes, he did not emphasize the dramatic scale of the falls, preferring a more intimate perspective that brings the viewer into the scene.

[1] This vantage point was accessible until 1920 when rock fall made passage into the cave no longer safe.