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John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society

Catalogue Entry

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Keywords
P.909
Tiger Lilies
ca. 1890–91
Pastel on paper
17 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. (44.4 x 29.8 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtman–
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., Gift of John Gellatly (1929.6.145)
Provenance
(Milch);
to John Gellatly;
gift to present collection, 1929.
Exhibitions
1891 Wunderlich probably
H. Wunderlich & Co, New York, Paintings in Oil and Pastels by J. H. Twachtman, March 1891, no. 40, as Tiger Lilies.
1893 American Art Galleries probably
American Art Galleries, New York, Paintings, Pastels, and Etchings by J. Alden Weir, J. H. Twachtman, Claude Monet, and Paul Albert Besnard, by May 4–mid-November 1893, no. 43, as Tiger Lilies, pastel.
1989 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J. H. Twachtman, May 10–June 10, 1989. (Exhibition catalogue: Boyle 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Gerdts 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Spanierman 1989); (Exhibition catalogue: Peters 1989–II); (Exhibition catalogue: Peters 1989–III), no. 15, as Tiger Lilies.
1999 High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist, February 26–May 21, 2000. (Peters 1999–I), no. 14, as Tiger Lilies. Traveled to: Cincinnati Art Museum, June 6–September 5, 1999; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, October 16, 1999–January 2, 2000.
Literature
New York Evening Post 1891 probably
"Art Notes: Pictures by J. H. Twachtman at Wunderlich." New York Evening Post, March 9, 1891, p. 7, as Tiger Lilies.
Smithsonian Institution 1933
Smithsonian Institution. Catalogue of American and European Paintings in the Gellatly Collection. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1933, p. 18, as Tiger Lilies.
Smithsonian Institution 1954
Smithsonian Institution. Catalogue of American and European Paintings in the Gellatly Collection. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1954, p. 16, as Tiger Lilies.
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, p. 590 (catalogue A, no. 989), as Tiger Lilies. (Hale concordance).
Peters 1989–III
Peters, Lisa N. "Catalogue." In In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J.H. Twachtman, by Lisa N. Peters et al. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 1989. Exhibition catalogue (1989 Spanierman), pp. 84–85 ill. in color, as Tiger Lilies.
Peters 1995
Peters, Lisa N. "John Twachtman (1853–1902) and the American Scene in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Frontier within the Terrain of the Familiar." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, City University of New York, 1995. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1996, vol. 1, p. 267; vol. 2, p. 816 ill. in b/w (fig. 292), as Tiger Lilies.
Peters 1999–I
Peters, Lisa N. John Henry Twachtman: An American Impressionist. Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 1999. Exhibition catalogue (1999 High Museum of Art), pp. 83, 86 ill. in color, as Tiger Lilies.
Commentary

Pastels titled Tiger Lilies were in Twachtman's 1891 solo exhibition at Wunderlich and in the show of his work along with that of Julian Alden Weir (and the French painters Claude Monet and Paul-Albert Besnard) at the American Art Galleries in 1893.  Depicting the clustered orange perennial flowers in their natural environment, their blossoms and leaves diffused in the atmosphere around them, this was probably the work represented in both exhibitions. A review of the 1891 show in the New York Evening Post mentioned Tiger Lilies as among the “flower pieces, which are no more than the merest suggestions.” The freehand immediacy with which Twachtman created the work is demonstrated in the apparent flutter and openness of the blossoms in warm sunlight and the rapid lines depicting spiky leaves.  

Selected Literature

From Peters 1989–III

In this rendering, Twachtman shows tiger lilies as gentle and refined flowers. . . . Softly tousled by the wind, the blossoms sway and blend together, susceptible to forces of nature. Yet they resist full acquiescence; several flowers stand on their own, while others staunchly fend off the countering force. Twachtman expresses the simultaneous fragility and strength of his subject.