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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Catalogue Entry

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Additional Images
Venice, ca. 1880–85 (E.604). Fig. 1. Otto Bacher, View in Venice (Fondamenta della Zattere), Sylvester Rosa Koehler, "Mr. Bacher's Etchings," American Art Review 2 (October 1881), p. 230.
Fig. 1. Otto Bacher, View in Venice (Fondamenta della Zattere), Sylvester Rosa Koehler, "Mr. Bacher's Etchings," American Art Review 2 (October 1881), p. 230.
Related Work
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Keywords
E.604
Venice
ca. 1880–85
Etching on paper
3 5/8 x 5 in. (9.2 x 12.7 cm)
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Gift of Joan and Walter Wolf (2018.113)
Provenance
Literature
Wickenden 1921
Wickenden, R[obert] J. The Art and Etchings of John Henry Twachtman. New York: Frederick Keppel, 1921, pp. 21 ill. in b/w, 30, 48, as Venice.
New York Times 1921–III
"The World of Art: Etchings of John Henry Twachtman." New York Times, November 13, 1921, p. BRM5, as Venice.
Baskett 1999
Baskett, Mary Welsh. John Henry Twachtman: American Impressionist Painter as Printmaker—A Catalogue Raisonné of His Prints. Bronxville, N.Y.: M. Hausberg, 1999, pp. 33, 76–79, ill. in b/w, as Venice. (Baskett concordance).
Commentary

This etching depicts the same scene, in reverse, as the drawing Low Tide: A Stranded Vessel (D.651). This suggests that Twachtman created the drawing first and transferred the image to the etching. However, it seems more likely that worked on his etching plate and drawing at the same time because a few details in the etching are not present in the drawing, such as the figure on the bridge, a building with a pitched roof next to the church, and ships with tall masts at the horizon line.

Twachtman's viewpoint in the drawing and etching plate was looking west along the Zattere in Venice. In the etching the Ponte Longo, a bridge over the San Trovaso Canal, is at the right with the Church of the Gesuati beyond it. The large schooner, here at the left, is perhaps on a tilt for cleaning purposes or has fallen into this position due to low tide. Its masts point in the direction of the church. The same site can be seen in an etching of 1880 by Twachtman's friend Otto Bacher (fig. 1), which is not in reverse.

Although it was not listed in the catalogue, Twachtman probably exhibited this etching at the American Watercolor Society exhibition, held January 30–February 25, 1893 because of an entry by Theodore Robinson in his diary, in which he stated: "A charming little Japanesy w.c. by Twachtman—a snow scene—also a good little etching—Venice.”[1]

The impression in the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, illustrated here, is a posthumous etching. It was among nineteen etchings reprinted for the 1921 exhibition at Frederick Keppel and Company, New York. According to Baskett, the etching was probably printed by Peter Platt, a professional printer who produced etchings for Childe Hassam and John Sloan. 

[1] Theodore Robinson, diary, January 30, 1893, Frick Art Reference Library, New York. 

Lifetime states (from Baskett 1999)

I. Before the three lines in water to left of reflection of large post by quay.

II. With the three lines in water to left of reflection of large post by quay.

Selected Literature

From Wickenden 1921

The little Venice plate recalls Twachtman’s associations with Duveneck, and may have been done when they were together. An odd feature is the dark hull of a large brig that has fallen on its side at low tide near the horizon at the left. On the right a bridge and quay would seem to lead towards the vicinity of the Arsenal [p. 30].