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
E.801
Windy Day
Alternate title: Branchville, Connecticut
ca. 1888–89
Etching on paper
4 x 5 in. (10.2 x 12.7 cm)
Akron Art Museum, Ohio, Bequest of Edwin C. Shaw (1955.47)
Provenance
Literature
Thorpe 1921
Thorpe, Jonathan. "John H. Twachtman." Arts 1 (October 1921), p. 6 ill. in b/w, as Branchville, Connecticut.
Wickenden 1921
Wickenden, R[obert] J. The Art and Etchings of John Henry Twachtman. New York: Frederick Keppel, 1921, pp. 32, 33 ill. in b/w, 48, as Branchville, Connecticut.
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. 32, 102–103, ill. in b/w, as Windy Day. (Baskett concordance).
Cummings 2000
Cummings, Hildegard. "Art and Nature in the Landscapes of Nod." In A Connecticut Place: Weir Farm—An American Painter's Rural Retreat Art and Nature in the Landscapes of Nod, by Nicolai Cikovsky Jr. et al. Wilton, Conn.: Weir Farm Trust in collaboration with the National Park Service, Weir Farm National Historic Site, 2000 (2000 Weir Farm Trust), pp. 86, ill. in b/w, 87, as Branchville, Connecticut.
Commentary

This was one of four etchings created by Twachtman as illustrations of works included in the auction held at the Fifth Avenue Art Galleries on February 7, 1889 of his work and that of Julian Alden Weir. The etching reproduced a painting in the exhibition (OP.817), which depicts a view in Branchville of Nod Hill Road, on which Weir's home was situated. The etching is not in reverse, indicating that it was reversed in the printing process. Nonetheless, there are quite a few differences between the two works, in the shape of the road and gate and the buildings in the distance. 

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

Selected Literature

From Wickenden 1921

The late J. Alden Weir lived at Branchville and was one of Twachtman’s most intimate friends. This fact is recalled by the titles of two subjects, Branchville, Connecticut, and Old Mill, Branchville, Conn. [E.800] The first mentioned etching suggests a speed of execution akin to that of Rembrandt in doing Six’s Bridge—said to have been completed while a servant went to the village for mustard to complete the menu at the famous Burgomaster’s country house where Rembrandt was visiting. In Twachtman’s etching, however, we have a characteristic corner of New England, the perspective of a roadway indicated by the few lines leading to some farm buildings clustered under a group of trees rising against the sky near the middle of the composition. To the right a railed gateway leads to a meadow. It is a rapid comprehensive sketch [p. 32].

From Baskett 1999

The subject matter in this print—road, farmhouse, fence, and grasses—is lightly and rapidly indicated, and quickly sketched diagonals in the sky suggest the rapid movement of the clouds. Twachtman conveys the impression of a windy day [p. 102].