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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Exhibitions
1889–I Fifth Avenue Art Galleries
Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, Paintings in Oil and Pastel by J. Alden Weir and J. H. Twachtman, February 1–7, 1889, no. 52, as November, 15 1/2 x 21 in.
1919 Macbeth
Macbeth Gallery, New York, Paintings by John H. Twachtman, January 1919, no. 3, as Gray Day.
1919–I Vose probably
Vose Gallery, Boston, Exhibition of Selected Works by John H. Twachtman, January 27–February 15, 1919, no. 3, as Grey Day.
Literature
Art Amateur 1889–I
"The Weir and Twachtman Exhibition." Art Amateur 20 (March 1889), p. 75, as November.
New York Times 1889–I
"The Weir–Twachtman Paintings." New York Times, February 3, 1889, p. 13, as November.
Sun 1889–II
"Weir and Twachtman Pictures." Sun (New York), February 8, 1889, p. 3, as November.
Britton 1919
Britton, James. "Exhibition Now On: Twachtmans at Macbeth's." American Art News 17 (January 11, 1919), p. 2, as Gray Day.
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. 451 (catalogue G, no. 220), as Gray Day), 452 (catalogue G, no. 221), as A Gray Day, 478 (catalogue G, no. 447), as November. (Hale concordance).
Sotheby's New York 2007–II
American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, November 28, 2007. New York: Sotheby's, 2007, lot 2 ill. in color, as Grey Day.
New York Times 2012
Martha Schwendener. "Finding Beauty in Land." New York Times, January 8, 2012, p. 9 ill. in b/w, as Gray Day.
Commentary

In this image, Twachtman depicted a view of an upland countryside seen from a low angle. There is evidence in the work that the landscape was once cultivated in its depiction of parts of old stone walls and field demarcations. However, there are no signs of land recently plowed and the ground cover is overgrown. While focusing on subtle distinctions rather than depth, Twachtman included a farmhouse in the left distance, which conveys a sense of scale. 

With some certainty, this painting can be identified as November, an oil painting included in the February 1889 Twachtman and Julian Alden Weir exhibition and sale at the Fifth Avenue Art Galleries in New York. The work's dimensions—listed in the catalogue as 15 1/2 x 21 inches—are a close match with those of this painting. In a review in the Art Amateur, November was described as “a study of a brush-grown upland in which there were more colors and less color than is common with [the artist].” The New York Times stated: “‘November’ has a look of the season quite its own.” November sold for $105, according to the New York Sun.

Given its inclusion in the 1889 sale and its subject matter, the work is likely to be a Branchville view. Twachtman resided there near the home of Weir in the summer of 1888, but he also could have returned in November. Works closely related to this painting—Cincinnati Landscape (OP.811), Landscape (OP.813) (probably also in the 1889 show and sale) and Cincinnati Landscape (OP.814)—are likely also to be Branchville scenes. 

By 1919, when the painting was in the exhibition at Macbeth Gallery of works from the artist's estate, it was listed in the catalogue as Gray Day. The catalogue entry notes: "This little picture has a poetic charm and is painted with the artist's characteristic sympathy with his subject. The season is fall when the fields have lost their summer verdure and the trees their bright green foliage, and the dull gray tones of late November have replaced the brilliant hues of summer. Overhead a soft gray sky of exquisite tonality blends in subtle harmony with the quiet landscape below."