John Twachtman

JOHN TWACHTMAN

BT ELIOT CLARK

759.1 T96

ttg
Ktbrarg

KANSAS CITY, MO PUBLIC LIBRARY

D ODDI, "4705153

DATE DUE

Demco, inc. 38-293

stacks 759.1
C*ar,fc, Blofc

JOHN H. tWACHtMAN

From the portrait by J. Alden Weir,

Tiie Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Cmm, 21% laches high, 17}i inches wi<k Signed and dated,

1894.

JOHN

PRINTED

Copyrigkt, 1924

v

Frederic FaircHild Skerman

TO MY WIFE

THE AMERICAN ARTISTS SERIES

George Inness. By Elliott DaingerfielcL (Out ofprint)

Fifty Paintings by George In ness.

Homer Martin. By Frank Jewett Matner, Jr.

Fifty *eignt Paintings "by Homer Martin.

AlexanclerV/yant. By Eliot Clark.

Sixty Paintings try Alexander "Wyant.

RalpK Albert Blakelock. By Elliott Daingerfield.

'Winskrw Homer. By Kenyon Cox.

Albert Pinlckam Ryder. ByFre<lericFaircliiIdSnerman.

JotnH.Twacktmaii. By Eliot dark.

IN PKESS

J. Francis Murphy. By Eliot Clark.

J. AHenWeir. By Frederic FairdiildL SKerman.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait of JoJin H. Twachtman

ByJ. AldenWeir . . . Frontispiece

Brooklyn Bridge Page 12

Oyster Boats " 16

ArquelaBattaille "20

Summer "26

The Hemlock Pool "30

Snow "42

Niagara Falls "46

Tne Cascade "5

Figure in Sunlight " !H

Beach at Squam " 58

Falls in January "62

JOHN TWACHTMAN

JOHN TWACHTMAN

PART ONE

HE true account of an artist's life is
rendered by his own Hand, fixed for
ever on canvas in unalterable form.
Could we read the subtle thought ex*
pressed thereon we would gain an
insight into the character of the paints
er and the times in which he lived, for the brush is a
moSt sensitive instrument recording exactly the feet
ing and mental Slate of its master. Focused in its
material point is not only the aspiration of the ego, but
the very world spirit seeks expression through its
charged and narr ow channel. The painter lives in his
work, and his charadter is revealed therein.

The expression of the pa^t could not have been
otherwise; nor the present. It is the immutable law
of cause and efiedt. It is as inconceivable to imagine
an impressionistic pidture being painted at the time of
the renaissance as a pidture of that time being sincere*
ly produced at present. "MVe read from the faces of
pidtures as from the faces of life the eternal paradox of
the universal existing in the particular , the impersonal
in the personal.

In the work of John Twachtman we see his true
charadter. WTiatever may have been his outward
adtion, his pidtures revealhis inner spirit. Outwardly

gruff, hedonistic, skeptical and insensitive; inwardly
he was impressionable, sensitive and sincere. In man?
ner bantering, didadlic, inconsistent, careless; in spirit
delicate, constant, naive and loving. An inStindtive
understanding of true aesthetic values gave poise and
confidence ; but a lack of patronage and a contempt
for popular banalities created skepticism and incred*
ulity. Tlius we see in Twachtman, tKe man, a dual
character. One inStindtive, tlie other acquired; one
real, the other affedted. In judging the man we muSt
make this diStindtion ; in judging his art it is not neces*
sary, for therein we find the man truly himself.

The saving grace of the skeptic is a sense of humor,
and Twachtnian, perceiving the significance and rek
ativity of values, played with themfbr his own amuses
ment. But his wit was of a personal nature and his
jeSt contained a Sling. Faithfiil and consistent in his
work, he gave himself the privilege and pleasure of
changing his fancy and opinion at will. Of Twacht=
man^s whimsicality Carolyn Mase writes : fc u He was
inconsistent in details, but consistent about big things.
For instance, for months he harangued againSt the elm
trees, and then he discovered that they were the moSt
beautiful of trees. He was swayed by his moods, his
emotions. One day a thing appealed to him, the next
day it bored him. One day his talk was spiritual
you looked for the halo ; the next day you laughed at
yourself for the feeling. But the Steady, Strong con*
victions which were his towards his work never
varied never even by a hair's breadth." I well recall

10

an incident at Gloucester. Several artists were stop=
ping togetKer at one of tbe Summer Hotels. Twacbt*
man bad been painting ratber large canvases (tliat is,
about twenty * five by tbirty, for pidtures were not
painted as large at tbat time as at present). He took
great joy in joking ttie ottiers about painting on small
canvases. One couldn't paint a pidlure on tHem; wliy
not work on a real canvas, and so fbrtb. Witbin a
fortnigbt's time be was painting small tbumb^box
panels, using cigar^box covers wbicb be treasured
witb great care. I recall also tbat be was always jok=
ing, and tbat often bis jokes, wbicb were of a personal
nature, would end in a row. To wbicb Miss Mase
refers: "He loved to Air up tbe fads of people, and
one day on bis way to tbe dining-room at tbe Holley
House, knowing well tbe people, be said, "You say
so=and^so, and I will say so^and^so, and in two minutes
we will bave a row on/ And in two minutes tbey did
bave a row on/" An ecbo of tbe gentle art of Jimmy
"Wbistler ; yet not so Studied or subtle, but ratber ob*
vious, rollicking and fun making.

Twacbtman was not, in tbe accepted sense, a cut
tured man. Skeptical of acquired learning and intole^
rant of sbow, be bad, nevertbeless, a true apprecia*
tion of real values. Tbere was nothing academical
about tbe man. He considered tbings at finft band and
accepted tbem for wbat tbey meant to bim, not wliat
tbey were accredited to be. Everytbing was, tbere*
fore, a personal discovery, and its value was accordiag
to bis personal interest. Tbe label on a tbtng was

ii

merely a mundane decoy. He was suspicious of tilings
that were generally accepted and, therefore, taken for
granted. But Twachtman was not a belligerent radi*
cal. He liad too mucli kutnor for tkat. Independent
and courageous, ke was, kowever, humanly suscep*
tible to praise and approval. ModeSt and unassuming,
lie, nevertheless, liked the glow of admiration and en*
joyed tke propinquity of a credulous circle. Not con?
sciously a poseur, ke affedted sometking of tke flair
of kis more illustrious confrere, ^vVhiStler. He would
kave deligkted in being apt at apkorism and repartee,
and sometimes was, in tke opinion of kis kearers, but
in tke presence of wit ke was more personal tkan bril*
liant. \Vith kis comrades ke was jovial and debonair.
He rather liked tke distinction of being modernistic,
and poked fun at tke old timers. \V r ith younger men
and witk kis pupils, or to tkose to wkom ke took a
fancy, ke was not only sympatketic but radiated a
genuine entkusiasm. Tkere was no sense of separate*
ness. R. J. Wickenden writes of Twacktman in Paris
in 1883 : * * Twacktman \vas eigkt years my senior and
kad already achieved a certain recognition, but no
consciousness of superiority was evident in kis frank
"camaraderie". He was a Student among Students,
anxious to add to kis Store of skill and knowledge from
every available source." He kad a great fondness for
children. Nothing pleased him more than to treat the
gang and joke -with the youngsters, who in turn jol*
lied him. The Gods took him young. It is inconceiv*
able to think of Twachtman as an old man.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Collection of Mrs. Thomas E. Gerrity, Mt* Vernon, N, Y.
Panel, 16 inches high, 10 inches wide.

Twachtman was not Studious in an academical or

exadting sense. He was not methodical. He may have

laughed at inspiration or the divine spark. Neverthe*

less, Ke followed his impulse and his personal predi*

ledtions. At times he would work constantly and

consistently, and then again lay fallow. But always

he was impressionable, and on the lookout. His eye

was always searching and measuring. "" Johnny"

would swing along, his eyes eagerly worming the hid*

O den beauty out of the landscape his thoughts never

K off fc nature*. Even in the midst of some of his moSt

^ fanciful sayings, or interrupting a joke, or breaking

O with a witticism, he would $x>p and point out some

^ beauty of line, some harmony of color which had es*

caped the others."

Suspicious of the over serious, he saw art and life
as one. An admirer of the great mailers, he, never*
theless, believed in his own readtions. His painting is
purely sensuous in the sense of its being a record of
^ his visual impressions, and in that sense he was truly
f- an impressionist.

He was equally awake to aesthetic enthusiasms
and susceptible to new discoveries. In Munich we see
the echoes of the old masters; in Holland and France
he became aware of the beauty of grays and the sig*
nificance of values, and later he was saturated with

, the significance of envelopment and light. The art of

^ the Japanese was an important discovery, and to the
tn Japanese Twachtman, Kke Whistler, owes much of
"" his appreciation of arrangement and design. It was a

new point of view as distinguished from the tradi*
tional pidture making of the weSt. Then Velasquez
was the idol for a time. But that may have been an
echo from \VhiStler.

HadTwachtman lived, would lie have entertained
a similar enthusiasm for the PoSt Impressionists? The
question is not an idle one, and if it could have been
enadfced, might have been the teSt of character . Noth*
ing is truly more pathetic than a one time modernist
becoming an old timer. Twachtrnan was, however,
not a faddist or an opportunist. In his work, from the
earliest examples, we see an absolute and unimpeach*
able integrity, an integrity for which he sacrificed
popularity and reward, and we observe a personal tie
that binds it all together, that despite its disparity gives
it unity and purpose. Susceptible to contemporary
creation as he was to visual impression, he used it for
his own purpose, assimilated it in his own being, made
of it a living, vital force, and hammered the malleable
matter in his own crucible.

Twachtman^s attitude towar d nature, his approach
to his subjedt, was not that of a naturalist, a pantheist
orareali^L It was more truly that of an artist. He was
not curious about botanical Strudture or the absolute
veracity of naturalistic form; he had not the religious
feeling of the affinity of nature with its creator or its
relation to man ; nor was he a graphic reporter of r eat
i^tic fadts. He saw in nature the means for an arrange^
ment of form and color; he sought not so much the
beauty of a part as the relation of parts to an organized

14

whole. He was not emotional in a romantic sense,
that sense which is related more to the association of
ideas or the symbolical suggestion of nature. He was
not affedted by the dramatic and carefully refrained
from introducing the moving and turbulent aspedts
of nature. He was suspicious of tbe interpretation of
the so-called moods of nature. Disdaining poetical
associations he respedted the readtion of his eye, not
for its informing fadts, but for its aesthetic sensibility.
Therein he is related, not only to the didtum and
pradtice of \VliiSller, but to the aesthetic dodtrine of
Tvfs time.

If Twachtman -was not poetical in the literary
sense, a form of expression which requires the associ*
ative and intelledtual idea, he was truly poetical in the
aesthetic sense, a sense which is more elusive, possi*
bly because less used, and which finds its poetical ex*
pression in painting not so much in a merely graphic
way , but in the more ab^lradfc expression of form and
color, which is a language quite unique and independ*
ent of the thoughts formed by words. His work is,
therefore, not without idea, but it is an aesthetic rather
than a literary idea. The aesthetic idea in painting is
not, however, created out of nothing. Its beginning
and evolution, like every other form of expression, is
from the human emotion, andTwachtman was essen*
tially human. His nature was comparatively little
corrupted by superficial conventionalities. Inline*
tively sensitive to his environment, susceptible to the
quickened tendencies of the artistic "milieu*", and

animated by the joy of living, Twaclitman intuitively
expressed in liis painting the newly discovered beauty
of the outer world reflected by means of the eye on
the inner souL Tlie world in which he lived -was his
subjedt, liis impressions of it bis expression. Hedonistic
in spirit, he was a highly sensitized medium on whom
the objective world adled and conveyed through the
sensuous susceptibility the mystical meaning of man*
ife^lation expressed in form and color. Careless of
himself in so many ways, not building up with calcu*
lated purpose or for material reward, Twachtman
never sacrificed his purity of purpose to popular ap*
plause.

Robert Reid has happily summed up his impress
sion: "Twachtman was of those to whom the subtle
beauties of nature, which, though not hidden, have
been seen only by the few, appealed mo^t Strongly;
and it was the element in his nature which responded
to that appeal that gave the charm to his work. En*
thusiasm seems to have been the keynote of his char*
adler, a singularly gentle enthusiasm, a smiling rather
than a laughing sympathy with his work, his family
and friends. In his work it pervaded all he did, from
the pastel note of a wild flower on a bit of tinted paper
to his completed painting."

In his teaching he encouraged the personal view*
point, and prompted his pupils to seek new discover*
ies. He ^vas not a methodical teadher, Drudgery and
determination didn't count. One ccmld Stipple a dra w*
iog until doomsday and be only told to go home and

16

OYSTER BOATS

Collection of Mr. Gi&ert & McQiritack, Wilfces Baro, Pa*

Canvas, 16 inches high, 24 iacheswide, Signed andd^sedl at lower

kft, M J. H. Twachtman, N. Y., 79".

wask diskes. He was intolerant. An artistic note
would win more favor tkan a finisked drawing ; an
ae^tketic appreciation was more kigkly prized tkan a
literal and exadt rendering . Observation was encour*
aged more tkan intellectual knowledge. Tke mailer
was not over Strong on conArudtion. Tke iudy of
anatomy destroyed tke naivete of the eye. It was a
difficult matter to reanimate an antique, and Twackt*
man used tke ca^l more as an okjedl for visual ^tudy
tkan for a dissertation on keauty, He insisted on tke
relation of die result to tke means employed. Cliarcoal
was an instrument witK a point, not to l>e smudged,
but etclied. Delicacy and sensitiveness of touck were
a part of expression not to ke sligkted or clouded; tke
paper was not to ke a Nukian katdefield, kut a deco*
rated surface. In tke antique class at tke League tke
master would give a ki* weekly criticism of work done
outside class. In tkiske reveled. Hedeligktedin^tart*
ing artistic adventure. Free from tke Static model and
realistic comparison, ke incited a searck for tke pidturz
esque and tke keautiful.

Twacktman trained tke diredt okservation of tke
eye witkout tke added intelledtual interest or associa*
tion of idea. V/itk color ke kelieved tkat tke eye sav/
more truly wken tlxe mind v/as not conversant witk
tke nature or local color of tke okjedt. He contended
tkat diildrensaw tke color of okjeds at a distance more
truly tkan aclttks i>^^tuse tkey were not conscious of
tke local color of tke okjedfc. Alluding to tkis, Mr.
Ckarles Gurran writes:

invented a game of seeing color, Standing them in a
row out of doors and training their sight, not by State*
ment on his part and implicit Belief on theirs, but by
questions from turn which brought out and Strength^
ened their own truthful observation."

PART TWO.

TT is interesting to note that Cincinnati was the
JL birthplace of several distinguished American ar^
tiSts, who were born shortly before or about the time of
the Civil "War . It is difficult to conceive that the time
or the place were particularly propitious for the culti*
vation of artistic genius, and it may be asserted that the
gifted ones were wise enough to seek other environ?
ment. It may also be remarked that these artists were
of German origin. Whether it was that beer brought
many Germans to Cincinnati or that Germans culti*
vated the fine arts will not be debated, but it muSt be
observed that our artists of German heritage have
shown little of the traditional influence of German art
and its particular prediledtions in color and form.

It was in Cincinnati that John Henry Twachtman
was born on August fourth, eighteen hundred and fi
tyzthree. His forbears were prosperous farmers, liv*
ing in the little town of Erichagen in the free State of
Hanover, Germany. That his people were held in
local esteem was evinced by the fad: that when Na*
poleon passed through their country Twachtman's
grandfather was one of a committee of three appoint*
ed to meet him. Conditions becoming unfavorable,

18

partly due to political changes, Twachtman^s father,
Frederick Christian Twachtman came to America
where he settled in Cincinnati and where lie later
married Sophia Droege also from the province ofHan*
over. There tlxe elder Twachtman gained liis liveli*
hood by working in a window shade fadlory. The
decorative embellishment of the shade, which was
then fashionable, prompted the son to try his hand at
painting, and encouraged by his father he supple*
mented his pr adtice by Studying art at the night school
of the Mechanics Institute and later at the Cincinnati
School of Design where Frank Duveneck -was ku&rudb
ing . The family of Duveneck were old friends of the
Twachtmans and hailed from the same country in
Hanover. Duveneck, five years older than Twacht?
man, Studied inMunich from eighteen seventy to eigh*
teen seventyzthree. As the painter of "TheWTi&fe
ling Boy", "W'oman with a Fan" and "Portrait of
Professor Ludwiglx>eftz"\ he was already an accom*
plished master. Proclaimed among the younger paint?
ers in Munich it was not, however , surprising that his
work was unappreciated in the provincial city of his
birth where he gave an exhibition of his Munich pio
tures on his return in 1873, It was not until the mem*
orable year, 1875, when he showed his work in Boston
that Duveneck met with immediate and unqualified
success. This at once determined him to return to
Munich. Interested in Twachtman, not merely as his
im&rudtor , but on account of jfriendly family relations,
recognizing the aptitude of the younger painter^ and

19

knowing from experience of tbe favorable conditions
for development in tbe more sympathetic environ^
ment abroad, Duveneck advised Twacbtman to re*
turn witb Kim to Municb.

It was a memorable experience. I well recall
Duveneck's glowing account of tbe voyage. Young,
ambitious and talented, tbe world of experience and
promise mysteriously loomed before Kim, He wore
a gray Stovepipe bat and wben be Stepped on board
tbe sbip, be said: "Wby! Rubens isn't in it." His
motber bad filled tbe extra spaces in bis traveling bags
witt. goodies, and sbe being a good old time German
bousewife, wben tbe bags were opened, tbe savory
sauerkraut and limburger smelled to beaven. Sailing
from New York in i875,*tbe young couple landed in
Hanover and immediately proceeded to tbeir old
borne town wbere tbey spent some little time fea^t?
ing witb tbeir respective families.

At Municb Twaditman Studied under Ludwig
Loeffiz, wbo bad previously been a feEow ^udent of
Duveneck at tbe Royal Academy under Wilbelm
Dietz. Tbe artistic atmospkere of Municb. at tbis time
was mo^t sympathetic and exhilarating. Tbe younger
painters, freed from tbe somewbat grandiose artifici*
aHties of tkeir predecessors, were -vitalized by tbe new
spirit of realism wbidb Kad been Stirring in France,
losing cm tke indiviciial and finA band observation
of tEe subject tbe tiaovetttent was tecbnically a return
to diredt painting, Otoe can imagine wbat a wonder*
fol experie^e if w^ fe tke youtb from tbe new

26 mdbes wi^. Signed and dated at

world. Corning from a provincial city where every*
one was engrossed in commerce, with no historical
or traditional background and little culture, it must
have been a marvelous mecca for an impressionable
youtL. The training was of inestimable value. Sur?
rounded by brilliant and enthusiastic craftsmen,
Studying the great masters in the Pinakothek andliv*
ing in an environment reflecting Continental culture,
Twachtman, naturally receptive, readted to the artis*
tic impulse of the time.

Remaining in Munich two years, Twachtman
joined Duveneck and Chase at Venice where he
worked during the following year. Numerous Stud*
ies of this period bear witness to the industry of the
painter, and much of the time was passed out of doors
along the waterways of the pidturesque city.

Ini878T\vachttnanretirtiiedtoAnierica. Several
of his canvases, fortunately dated, tell us of his being
in New York in '79, and a little later we find htm at
Cincinnati, where he painted a number of interest*
ing pictures in the neighboring country of Avondale.
In the fall of 1880 he sailed again for Europe, passing
the winter in Florence where Duveneck the year
previous had settled with a group of American pupils,
who had followed him from Munich. Little pidtorial
record of this second experience abroad remains to
inform us of his Study . Norbert Heermann, in his in*
tereSting little book on Duveneck, in speaking of this
sojourn in Florence, quotes Oliver Dennett Grover
who was working with Duveneck at that rime, 4 v The

advice of Jokn Twacktman, of tke Cincinnati contin^
gent, one of tke older ones, wkose knowledge was
wider, was appreciated next to tliat of tlie 'Old Man",
as tkey lovingly denominated Duveneck. Tke tu"
dent days in Italy were all too skort, but wliile tkey
lasted, tkey were more significant, probably, tkan a
similar period in tke lives of mot Students because
more intensified, more concentrated. Tke usual ^tu*
dent experiences of work and play, elation and dejeo*
tion, fea^t and famine, were ours, of course, but in
addition to tkat, and owing to peculiar circumstances
and conditions, tke advantage of tke intimate associa*
tion and constant companionskip we enjoyed not only
witk our leader but also witb. bis acquaintances and
fellow artists, men and women from many lands, was
unique and perbaps quite as valuable as any adhial
scbool work. \V^e lived in adjoining rooms, dined in
tlie same restaurant, frequented tbe same cafes,
worked and played togetker witb an intimacy only
possible to that age and suck a community of inter?
e^fcs." Duveneck bad been for a sbort time in Rome
and naively told Twacbtman tbat it was really wortb.
wbile seeing. So tKe latter was induced to make a
brief journey tkitber. But tbere was notbing of tke
sentimental sigkt^seer about Twacbtman, and lie was
more interested in tke living world and visual impress
sicms tban in bMorical associations.

In tke spring of ^81 \ve find Twacbtman again in
America^ and skortly afterward lie married MartKe
Seudder , daughter of Jane Hannak and Jokn Milton

Scudder, the well known physician and writer, who
for many years was Head of the Ecledtic Medical
School.

The same season the newly married couple went
abroad, first visiting London, and tKen spending a
short time in Dordrecht. Here they met J. Alden
V/eir, liis brother, John Weir, and "SValter Shirlaw.
It was from this short stay in Holland that our painter
gathered material for a number of pidtures and several
etchings in which windmills figure conspicuously. It
was here too that Twachtman met Anton Mauve and
was much pleased with the encouraging criticism of
his work. Twachtman then returned to Munich and
made a sketching trip to the neighboring town of
Schleisheim where he painted a number of large can?
vases diredtly from nature, pidtures which attest the
artist's facile use of the brush, and in which the pre*
vailing low toned browns of the Munich formula are
much in evidence. After a short visit in Venice the
painter and his wife returned to New York.

Their ^tay in America was, however, of compare
tively short duration. Feeling that the environment
was more Stimulating and sympathetic abroad and
wishing to continue his technical tadies,Twachtman
returned to Europe in 1883. This time he settled in
Paris. The change was a decisive one. Coming under
the influence of the younger school of France, his ap*
preciation of light and values was awakened, and the
bituminous palette of Munich was discarded for the
cooler hues of the open air. A fellow Student tells us

23

of bis impressions of tbat time: "As far back as 1883
wben I knew Twacbtman at Paris lie impressed me
as being a painter de race. His clear eye, i&raigbt
nose flanked by sensitive nostrils, curved moustacbe
and trimmed beard, evoked I know not wbat souve*
nir of Van Dyke and Rubens. Convinced and serious
in bis views, lie carried witb bitn a certain atmospbere
of Romanticism, acquired possibly during bis earlier
sojourn in Municb. He was tben working under
Lefevre and Boulanger at tbe Julien atelier, and bis
academic work was supplemented by tudy of tbe
Old Masters at tbe Louvre, wbere, in tbe intervals of
classes at tbe Ecole des Beaux Arts, I was similarly
occupied. At noon we usually ^ent to a nearby res^
taurant wbere questions relating to art, ancient and
modern, would be discussedover biftecks aux pommes
and vin ordinaire." Anotber friend, speaking of tbe
same period, writes: "Le Fevre used to invite bis
mo^fc promising pupils to bis private Studio on Sunday
mornings to talk painting, and to see any of tbeir work
done outside tbe scbooL It -was a Stimulus and a pleas*
ure to bim to receive tbis recognition of bis work,
done on bis own initiative."

In tbe summer Twacbtman spent some time at
Honfleur, wbere Homer Martin was Staying. Tbe
two painters, later so disparate in tbeir expression,
round mucb in common in tbeir artistic adventures.
We note reminiscences of tbis trip in tbe etcbings,
"Quay at Honfleur\ "TKe Moutb of tbe Seine \ and
"Road near Honfleur", and also a number of small

pidtures ofharbor and river subjedts. Another sketch*
ing trip was made to Arque la Battaille, near Dieppe,
a country finely suited to the delicate tyle ofTwacht*
man, with decorative arrangement of trees, low lying
kills and winding river. Some of tlie finest examples
of tlie early period were painted in this vicinity.

The winter of "84 was passed in Venice. Prepara*
tory to his return to tlie States in "85, the painter had
shipped many of his canvases in advance. Alas! The
ill fated ship went down and with it much of the be^t
work of Twachtmans continental experience.

During the ten years which had elapsed from the
fir^t trip ahroad to his final return to America,
between the ages of tweaty*two and diirty*two,
Twachtman had not only acquired a thorough knowl*
edge of the craft and a splendid understanding of con*
^trudtion and composition, hut had produced a group
of pictures esteemed by his fellow painters and later
to be highly prized by appreciative connoisseurs.

In 1878, shortly after returning from his fir^t trip
abroad, Twachttnan exhibited two pidtures at the
fir^t exhibition of the Society of American Artists,
held at the Kurtz Gallery, both pidtures being Italian
in subjedt. In 1879 he was represented by five can*
vases, three of which were painted abroad. It was
in this year that he was eledted a member of the Soci*
ety. In 1880 he contributed six examples and in 1881,
1882 and 1883 he was represented by pidfcures mostly
of foreign subjedts.

The loss of much of his work at sea was fnghtfedly

discouraging, and although His pictures were known
and appreciated by liis fellow artists and favorably
exhibited, they were not of a character to be easily
negotiated. It was at this jundhire that Mrs . Twacht?
man's father suggested that it might be well to com*
bine landscape painting with farming and offered
them a house on some land which he owned up north.
Farming -was probably not a very exciting but an ex*

adting occupation, and Twachtman was very glad to

t * * t /*

accept an unexpected commission to work on one oi

the great war cycloramas then popular, pidhiring the
battle of Gettysburg. Twachtman's particular con*
tribution was in painting the sky, with burning
bombs and the lurid accompaniments of battle. This
work, though tiresome and uninteresting, was re*
munerative and kept the painter in Chicago for some
time . But it was merely a makeshift and Twachtman
was happy to return ea^i in '88 where he joined his
old time friend, J. Alden Weir , at Branchville. While
there,, several trips were made to Bridgeport, not far
distant, where he found many congenial and sympa^
thetic subje<fts along the wharves. Several of these he
repixxiuced in etching, and some of his mo^t pidfcur*
esque pa^fcek were also made at Bridgeport, notably
the old "FooteBridge, Bridgeport.**

In the summer 0^89 Twachtman had a small class
at Newport and -was at the same time enabled to do
some work about the neighboring water front. ^Vhile
there a fellow painter spoke very enthusiastically of
the landscape about Greenwich, Connedticut, and on

SUMMER

The Philli| Memorial Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Canvas, 30 inches high, 53 inches wide. Signed at lower right,

"J. H. Twadbtman".

returning Twachtman set out to look over tlie coun*
try. He Had determined to quit paying rent, to have
a place of his own, and to live in the environment
which He wished to paint.

Before the time of the commuter and costly sums
mer estates the country about Greenwich was quite
natural and charming. Following the road westward
Twachtman came upon a little farm about two miles
distant. The beauty of the spot determined the painter
and he at once made arrangements to acquire it. It
was in this favored situation that he settled in the fall
of 1889, and there during the next ten years mo^t of
his be^t pidlures -were painted.

^Vitnin easy reach of New York Twachtman
combined the joy of being in the country with the
association and the activities of the city. The Players
Club was a favorite rendezvous in those days, and
there he gathered with his intimate friends, \Veir,
Hassam, Metcal Reid, Simmons, Carlsen, and others
of a notable group of painters. It was at this time also
that he accepted an offer to in^lrudt the antique class
at the Art Students League, a position which he held
during the remaining years of his life. Twachtman
made of teaching rather a congenial occupation, for
to Students who were not responsive to his artistic
didtum he paid little attention, and rather than urge
them on he was frankly discouraging ; whereas with
those aesthetically inclined, he established at once an
artistic camaraderie and imparted his criticism with
interest and feeling. His comment was often sarcastic

and biting, and frequently irrelevant and uncon^truc*
tive, depending muck upon tbe mood of tlie moment.
Tbere was an appreciable silence wben bis nervous,
agile figure appeared at tbedoor, andbeginning always
at tbe furtber end of tbe room, tbe duty of tbe day
was dispatcbed.

From bis ancborage at Round Hill Twacbtman
made several excursions furtber afield. \VTiile visit?
ing Mr. Cbarles Carey of Buffalo, be made several
pidtures of Niagara Falls, and as a result of tbis asso*
ciation be was commissioned by Major W". A. Wads*
wortb of tbat city to paint a series of pidtures of Yel*
low^tone Park.

Later we find tbe painter spending tbe summers at
Gloucester, returning to bis mucb loved subjedts of
bouses, wbarves and sbipping. Duveneck was tbere
and de Camp and Corwin of Florentine days. One
cannot say it was an intelledtual group. Tbere was
litde reminiscing and less artistic speculation. Tbe
glamour bad passed. Tbere was mucb joking and jol?
lying, sarcasm and irony. Duveneck occasionally
Started a canvas, but be lacked tbe interest and will to
continue it. Twacbtman worked constantly . It was
a form of exhilaration. But bis mental impulse was
not as vigorous as bis visual. He Started many can*
vases and enjoyed tbe initial attack, but it bad become
more difficult for bfrn to sustain tbe aestbetic effort.
Tbere seemed sometbing gnawing at tbe soul of tbe
man, and for one wbo was approacbing fifty some?
tbtng curiously uncertain and restless. Never robust

28

in physique he did not care for himself as His nature
required. His vitality became weakened, and when
illness came, he was not sufficiently Strong to over*
come it. He died at Gloucester in the month of July,
1902. He was survived by bis wife and five children.

PART THREE

/ T*HE painting of John Twachtman may be classic
JL fied in three periods, in each of which we observe
a radically different ^tyle and treatment. The fir^t we
may associate with the Munich School; the second
derives from France and Holland; while the final and
mature period belongs to America. One does not
seem to grow out of the other; it is rather a readtion
from the other. But each manner is thoroughly con*
sistent within itself. ^/e never feel at any time that
uncertainty or confusion of purpose and that techni*
cal solecism which is its result.

The great contract between the early work of
Twachtman and his mature expression can only be
explained by Studying the larger art movement with
which his work is associated. It is, in brie the con*
tra^t between the Munich School of the seventies and
the Parisian School of Impressionism of the nineties ;
the contract between the dark, colorless, but Wrongly
painted canvases which refledt the sombreness of the
north and the light, airy and vibrant canvases which
one associates with sunshine and the south.

Although we can thus simply and briefly classify
the work of Twachtmaix, it is at once apparent in his

29

earliest canvases that lie was gifted with an in-line*
tive artistic sensibility and a very personal viewpoint.
This is observed not only in his brush work, but in his
singleness of vision and purpose, which is undoubted*
ly the origin of good brush work. There is a diredl*
ness, a freedom of touch and a certain command and
authority in the early painting of Twachtman, which
if it does not indicate the future way of the painter
indicates at once that he is a painter. It is not merely
the result of clever and superficial brushing ; it is not
merely a mannerism; but it implies a clarity of vision,
a comprehension of things seen and an in^tindtive
ability in reducing them to simple and expressive pic*
torial forms.

Little of the work of the very early Cincinnati
period remains to reveal the effort and influence of the
adolescent painter. \V^e have a photograph of a pic*
ture entitled "Tuckerman's Ravine", dated 1873,
owned by Louis Twachtman, brother of the painter.
The title does not suggejft the pidture; nor does the
picture suggest the painter. Great mountain peaks
rise in the background, in front of which is a placid
lake, bordered by gnarled and time worn trees. The
subjedt was probably suggested by other pidtur es ; the
mountains have no j&rudtural form, and the pidture is
of interest merely as being a very early example of the
artist.

The work executed between seventy *five and
eighty is dominated by the Munich influence and
Twachtman's association with Duveneck. The con*

30

HEMLOCK POO3L

Cdfccticm of Mr. Jotm Gellsdf , Hew

Canras, 30 inches Hgh> 23 trKiKss wlcfc, S^ied aa: lo^er tigfac,

**|. H.

tra^t of light and dark is exaggerated; the color is sub^
dued, in variations of brown and black; the paint is
applied heavily and with an undtuous, fatty quality
due to a free use of varnish. Tlie brushwork is vigor*
ous, impulsive, diredt and expressive. Tbe pidtures
of tbis period are mostly small in size and intimate in
conception. It is to be noted even at this early time
tbat tbe motives are derived from diredt observation.
There is no endeavor to make the subjedl poetically
picturesque, or to embellish through added details and
associations the particular aspedt of a place. His pic?
tures have, therefore, local character.

Some of the best canvases of this period were
painted at Venice. The pidluresque buildings, the
waterways, the shipping along the Guidecca gave the
painter a splendid opportunity to display bis sense of
design, and he is more personal in these small decora*
tive panels than in the more ambitious landscapes of
the same time. Twachtman had a very happy faculty
of arrangement without seeming or Studied effort, the
efledfc of which was to Strengthen the salient charao
teri^iics of the subjedfc and give it a significance singu
lar to itself There is a splendid sense of architectonic
balance, a fine appreciation of spacing, that gives to
these little pidtures, an air of di^tindtion and ^tyle.
Twachtman showed some of these early canvases
later in life and alluded to them as being as "black as
your hat". Tbe Boston Museum has an example, en*
titled v "Italian Landscape", dated Venice'/S. Although
painted in sunlight as indicated by the shadows, it is

3 1

dark in key anci brown in tone. The technique is
spirited and facile, following the Munich formula.

MoSt of tlie pidlures of this time are in the propor^
tion of three by five, a proportion then more frequent?
ly used tlian later. But the interesting fc "Venice" with
the Dogana high in the canvas and the distant San
Giorgio is more in the proportion of five by six.

In speaking of this period of Twachtman's work,
Carolyn Mase writes : "Once I recolledt his showing
me a brownish^black water color, reeking with all
the colors that nature does not show. fc That\ he said
with a chuckle, 4s sunny Venice, done tinder the in*
fluence of the Munich School/ " If, however, the out?
ward aspedt of the early pictures savors of the brown
sauce of Munich, the true content of the composition,
the aesthetic conception is distinctive and personal.
There is nothing of the pidture making pattern, the
Standardised and purely conventional composition.
Taught the use of paints and a fbrmularized mode of
mixing, Twachtman uses them for his own purpose.
Several of these smaller canvases in the possession of
Mrs. Twachtman show a very sensitive aesthetic
sense and a deliberate and conscious conception of de*
sign. His association with Duveneck was of ineStimas
ble value,* particularly from a technical Standpoint,
but in subjedt and composition it is noticeable that we
see little trace of his earlier master.

On returning to the States it was no doubt difficult
for the painter to adjust himself to new surroundings
and a less sympathetic environnxent. In New York,

However, he at once seized upon the pidtorial possibtU
ities of the harbor with its shipping, docks and bridges.
\Ve recall a pidture dated "N. Y. 79", in which fish*
ing boats with sails furled are lying at the docks, the
upright repetition of the maSts contracted by angular
wooden houses in the background. The painter has
very happily contrived forms which are aesthetically
Stimulating, and at the same time are made to express
moSt intensely the purely graphic elements of the sub*
jedt. In technique it is a veritable "tour de force".
The painter never realized his subjedt with greater
command of brush. The arrangement which does
not suggest deliberate composing is nevertheless nice*
ly calculated and characterizes the subjedt with pics
turesque and Striking effedt. 1 Wlien we refiedt that at
this time Manet was Startling his Parisian public by
the frank realization of the intimate life about him,
we muSt recognize that the realism of Twachtman
tnuSt have appeared moSt blatant to the blinking eyes
of his American contemporaries.

Likewise, in his little pidture of Brooklyn Bridge,
Twachtman has revealed the pidtorial possibilities of
modern mechanical conStrudtion, and a theme which
might so temptingly have been used to parade the
great engineering achievement of the new world and
display with pride its imposing grandeur Twachtman
treats casually, with a sense of familiarity and a dis*
cerniag understanding of its aesthetic significance.

Many of the landscapes of this time, that is, be*
tweea */g and ^83, were painted at Avondale, neat 1

33

Cincinnati. In tKese little canvases we sense tKe con?
sciousness of rKytKm, tKe flow of line, tKe significant
spacing, wKicK later became tKe di^linguisKing cKar*
adteri^tic of TwacKtman's art. TKe contract between
sky and ground is enforced, tKus empKasizing tKe sky
line. TKe resulting silKouette is treated witK great
consideration and distinction. TKerein we perceive
tKe particular pencKant of tKe painter. If later Kis
color , value relations and Kandling cKange completely,
we will find tKat Kis sense of design, of silKouette, of
line, in sKort, tKe purely constructive elements of tKe
pidture are unfolded along tKe lines of Kis early efforts.
TKe angle of vision is extended, tKe composition ob*
long, tKe attention concentrated on tKe distance, tKe
middle ground often vacant and structurally ratKer
tKin, but tKe significant relation of form is apparent.

In Germany Ke attempted a number of large land*
scapes painted out of doors, and repeated tKe perform*
ance at Kome, but tKe result is not felicitous. Strong
and expressive in tecKnique, tKe effedt is over obvious.
Commonplace in conception, tKey lack tKe cKartn of
TwacKtman's spirit, "TKe Valley", painted in 1882,
is one of tKe largest pidtures of tKe Avondale period.
TKe trees are in full foliage, tKe color scKeme dark
green and gray, tKe painting full and vigorous, but
tKe composition somewKat overburdened. V/e also
recall several smaller pidtures, oblong compositions
in wKicK it is noticeable tKat tKe Keavy undtuous pig*
ment of MunicK Kas given place to a tKin, flowing
brusK, a manner wKicK Ke continues t9 use later in

34

France. TKus we may note tKe winter pidtures of
Avondale witK a Kint of die dramatic in tKe dull over*
ca^t sky and tlie dark winding brook against tKe wKite
snow' or distant country in angular perspective; quite
different in mood from tlie delicate etKereal landscapes
of a later time; or tKe pidture entitled "Nutting" witK
its splendid decorative silKouette; tKe very artistic
little fc "Coney Island" witK its unusually effective spac*
ing; and many otKer examples wKicK sKow tKe adiive
observation andkeendescriptiveinsigKtoftKepainter.
TKe sojourn in France was most significant in tKe
artistic career of our painter. Coming at a time wKen
Ke Kad acKieved some tKing of a mastery of Kis medium,
and still in an impressionable and formative state,
TwacKtman was able to appreciate and assimilate tKe
most condfcrudti ve influences of tKe time . TKe artistic
circles of Paris were tKen agitated by tKe advent of tKe
so called Impressionists, wKose first colledtive exKibi*
tion was Keld in 1874. Manet died in 1883, tKe year
of tKe arrival of our painter, and in 1884 a memorial
exKibition of Kis work was given at tKe Ecole des Beaux
Arts. Monet, tKen fbrty^tKree years of age, was pro*
ducing some of Kis finest canvases. Bastien Le Page,
wKose naturalism and scientific ^tudy of values Kad a
dominant influence in Kis day, died in 1884 . TKe Bar*
bizon painters Kad been proclaimed and officially
crowned. Rousseau died in 1867 ; Gcxrot and Millet in
1875; Diaz in 1876; Daubigny 1211878; Dupreini88g.
Gourbet, tKe great iaaugurator of tKe realistic move*
ment, wKose art was not so popular, partly on account

of its objective and unsentimental approach and partly
for political reasons, was, nevertheless, a growing force
among tlie virile and vigorous painters of the period.
Courbet died in 1878. Wldstler was an international
figure. The famous Ruskin trial was held in 1877. ^ke
portrait of the arti^fs mother, shown at the Royal
Academy in 1872, was awarded a gold medal in the
Salon of 1844 an< ^ purchased by the Luxembourg.
Paris had become the undisputed center of painting,
and the youth of the world flocked thither to assimilate
her teaching.

For Twachtman, then just thirty years of age it was
a critical and decisive training . A painter friend of that
time writes: "A cult of the precise realism of Bastien
Lepage was then tempering the classical teachings of
the Academy, and a somewhat clandestine admira*
tion already existed for the impressionism of Manet
and Monet. Twachtman wished to clear his palette
from the bituminous tones of Munich, to strengthen his
power of precise design, and altogether to freshen his
ideas in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Paris . At the
same time, analysis of older-masters, such as Velasquez,
and of works by the great landscapi^ts, both ancient
and modern, confirmed him in basic principles. V/his^
tiers art also influenced him, as well as that of the
Givernay master, Claude Monet." It is noteworthy
that Twachtman, already accomplished as a painter,
should work humbly at Julien's under Academic mas*
ters. But he -wished to create a strong foundation for
the future and attain in drawing and the construction

of the figure something of the facility which he had
attained in painting.

The pidtures of the Parisian period, 1883-1885, show
little influence in color or method of the impressionism
tic practice, hut they are quite opposed to the Munich
formula. In contrast to the earlier palette of browns
and blacks, ofundtuous impasto, and power fill brush*
ing, the French pictures are characterized by a deli*
cate technique, a close tudy of relative values, simpli*
fication of forms, and a cool gray color scheme. The can?
vas is a fine French linen; the pigment is applied thinly
with sure but sympathetic touch. Many of the mo*
tives introduce water, showing scenes along the Seine
or the waterways of Holland. There is seldom an at*
tempt at sunlight so that the gray lines of the clouded
sty and its reflections dominate the color scheme. The
composition is re^tridted to very simple themes, mo^t
of which depend upon the nice placing of the horizon
within the choosen proportions of the canvas; the spot*
ting of a group of trees in the middle ground effective*
ly breaking the sky or the simple line of river bank lead*
ing into the pidture. The form is rendered in simple
flat contour; the composition is long; the first plane is
in the immediate foreground, and the perspective is
limited. V/e observe the facile and sympathetic treat*
ment of field flowers, grasses and foreground forms,
which later were rendered so exquisitely in pastel
The color, in variations of silvery grays and greens, is
suggei&i ve ofBa^tien Le Page, but the tendency toward

37

decorative spacing and simplification is reminiscent of

One of the mo^t distinguished and representative
pidiures of this period, and at the same time one of tlie
largest of the painter's works, is the "Arcjue la Bat=
taille," painted from a smaller iudy, at Paris, in 1855.
Simple in theme, it is mo^t decorative in efiedt; delicate
and sensitive in painting, it has splendid force and car*
rying power. Inittiepainterkasconipletelysutnnied
up his expression of that time. It is a consummation. A
barren hillside runs horizontally across the upper por*
tion of the pidture, hroken only by an effective clump
of trees in simple silhouette against a gray moisture
laden sky, reflected in the placid stream below. The
soft, grass grown river bank breaks the left foreground,
from the center of which tall pidturesque water grasses
rise against the mirrored hillside . S till, sad and serene,
the river; fateful and melancholy, the hillside; delicate
and sensitive, the fragile river weeds. It typifies the
river country of northern France. In the land of no
other people will one find the same wistful, melan^
choly beauty, the same enchanting, indescribable
charm. The color is in tones of gray, gray green, gray
violet and brown. It is thinly painted, with flowing
brush, directly and freely. The foreground is a mas*
terfid performance, in which the painter has displayed
both skill and feeling. There is a lovely sense of sur*
face, and a discerning differentiation of quality in the
softness of the grass, the fragility of the rushes and the
placidity of limpid waters. The treatment of edges is

38

extremely subtle and sensitive, soft and refradted, yet
sure and solid. Note in particular tlie contour of the
river bank against the light water, suggestive and ak
luring, with a sense of going over; and note also the
consummate skill in the treatment of the rushes and
the con^trudtural beauty of form.

1 "The \Vindmills," also of this period and of similar
dimensions, is a mo^t felicitous arrangement, wherein
we find a very exadt adjustment of the relative posi*
tions of masses and the division of areas. Gray in tone,
the effedt is produced by light and dark, rather than
color. We remark again the pidlure plane beginning
in the immediate foreground and the skilfull treatment
of rushes and flowers. Executed with technical mas*
tery and quite perfedt in presentation, the composition
is, however, rather over obvious and insufficient in
volume to fill such a large canvas. This may be due to
the fadt that the large pidtures were painted after
smaller Studies and in losing something of their inti*
macy do not gain in grandeur.

Thus we see in the small canvas, " Canal Boats",
from which the etching, ^ Mouth of the Seine," was
drawn, a more satisfactory filling of space relative to
the dimensions of the canvas, and a corresponding con*
centration of effedt . The incisive use of the brush, the
efiedtive disposition of the darks, the simple but de*
scriptive outline of tie distant woods, make this pio
ture one of the mo^t Striking products of the period.
Similar in tonal theme is the "Sketch" in the Boston
Museum. The composition is scparer in proportion,

39

witti rattier low borizon; a group of dark barges
against tbe river bank at tlie rigbt, and a Frencb vik
lage breaking tbe distant sky line. The painting is
bardly more than a tbin wasb. Tbe river, reflecting
a gray clouded sky, in wbicb tbe attention is centered
in a picturesque row of poplar trees on tlie opposite
sbore paralleling tlie picture plane, again figures con*
spicuously in * "UEtang". Tbe fc "Landscape", formerly
owned by Mr, Montross, is a characteristic example,
simple in tbe treatment of line, and decorative in the
spotting of tke mass. Very tbinly painted, it bas al=
most the aspect of water color.

Tke""Winding Patb" wbicb we know only in pbo?
tograpk, painted in 1885 at Arque la Battaille, is an
important canvas. More ingratiating and poetical in
tbeme, it is less typical of tKe artist's style. Almost
panoramic in extent, it introduces a distant perspec*
tive uncommon in tbe artist's composition.

Other pictures of tbe French period sbow an intense
interest in tbe significance of line, tbe simplification
of form, a freedom from conventional composition,
and a decorative sense of arrangement. Tbe color is
restrained, tbe effed: is produced by a simple relation
of tones. Tbe contour is studied witb precision; tbe
painting is tbt'tn witb no indication of suggestive tex*
tares. "Witb a predilection for tbe tender effects of
gray and a pervading sense of melancboly, tbe pre=
vailing sentiment of tbe Frencb landscapes is one of
intimacy and dkarm. If we do not find fullness of form
or color and tbeir accompanying weigbt and volume,

40

we may rightly say that in their modification the artist
has intensified the aesthetic charm which lie wished
to express, and it is part of Twachtman's distinction
that he respected given limitations and worked with*
in them,

PART FOUR

THE intermediate manner was significant. It re*
vealed the painter to himself He saw his nature
manifested in delicacy rather than strength, in the*
sensitive rather than the Striking, in the subtle rather
than the obvious.

It is difficult to trace the transitional ^teps from the
pictures of the French period to the ultimate develop*
ment of the painter. Reterning to America in 1885,
the work of the next few years is not prolific or alto*
gether promising. Burdened with the cares of liveli*
hood, there was much distraction and interruption.
In 1887, two landscapes were exhibited at the Sod*
ety, and the following year six, three of which bear
foreign titles. It was not, however, until Twachtman
settled at Greenwich in 1889 that he seems definitely
to have found himself, and from that time until his
death in 1902 he produced the series of pictures by
which he is most universally known and appreciated,

The choice of location could not have been happi*
er. It has the charm of not being over obvious. Hid*
den among the hills, one might pass it by unnoticed.
But to the artist's eye was revealed its subtle beauty.
Before the competition in hedges and park like pal*
aces, one could see the natural rhythm of the land*

41

scape. The old stone fences rambled over the kills,
tlie fields were tilled or used as pasture, the woods
were thinned for timber, and something of the anato=
my of the earth could be discerned- Just below the
artist's house there is a lovely little brook, winding
merrily in and out, sometimes revealing its quickened
beauty as it tumbles over the rocks, and then flowing
silently between grass covered banks. It is surround^
ed by picturesque trees, sentinels of an earlier time,
before the advent of farm or woodman; lonely now,
perhaps, when lawns encroach upon their loveliness.
Here within his own grounds Twachttnan pro*
duced his finest canvasses. There is a feeling of home
in his pictures, of a country well beloved. The paint*
er has, as it were, become a part of the thing painted.
"We feel a perfedl intimacy, which comes from per^
feet understanding . Not descriptive in a purely gr aph*
ic or illustrative sense, the pictures of Connecticut
reveal the type and character of the country, its near^
ness, its friendliness, its peculiarly intimate charm. It
is not the loneliness of great expanse, nor the rugged
dramatic power of nature thatTwachtman portrays,
but rather tranquility and repose, and the interest of
nearby landscape made significant by the way in
which it is seen and composed. Thus the neighboring
pool, the little waterfall, the undulating stone fence,
the outcropping rocks and the varicolored fields as*
sume an importance which elevates the commonplace
to the realm of profound beauty. The human figure
is seldom introduced, although we frequently see a

SNOW

The Worcester Art Musema, Worcester, Mass.
Canvas, 30 inches high, 30 inches wide. Signed at lower right,

,

> ' "" ! "

neighboring House and indications of human pres*
ence; but whether directly indicated or not, the hu*
man interest looms large in the presence of the spec*
tator who, as it were, occupies tlie foreground and
shares the interest of tlie artist.

The later work is essentially tonal. The color is res
lated to values and the values to light. The local color
is modified by the dominant hue of the atmosphere
in which the form is enveloped and refracted. But
Twachtman was not a lumini^t in the full sense of
the term. He preferred the diffused light of hazy
days, or the gray days of autumn, to the blatant e
fects of sunlight and its corresponding contrasts. In
fact, most of his color schemes are harmonies where*
in the color manifests entirely relative to the predom*
inant hue. He expressed the elusive and fascinatingly
evasive effedis of nature; the delicate modulations of
a simple theme, brought together by subtly combined
variations and textures. He was a master of nuance.
His interest in winter landscape was, therefore, nat*
uraL He has rendered the aesthetic beauties of snow
rather than the rigour of winter; he discovered the
beauty of closely related values and softly modulated
forms under clouded skies; but he did not record the
brilliant sunshine and the crisp, clear days of New
England winter. Chiaroscuro is not employed as an
element in composition or as a means of engendering a
mood. The illumination is universal and not focused.
Twachtinan never endeavored to suggest in paint the
fascination of illimitable perspective or the transcen*

43

dental mood engendered thereby. On the contrary,
His viewpoint is seldom in tHe distance; lie designs
with known quantities against simply related planes,
and He seems instinctively to see in nature its pictor*
ial value in terms of color and form ratter tHan tHe
associative idea. He Had not a romantic reverence
for nature. TKe subjects wliicli Had inspired liis pred*
ecessors were to Kim merely sentimental. TKe awe
inspiring grandeur of primitive nature was of little
significance; scenic splendor and tKe sublimity of vast*
ness and expanse awakened no responsive cKord.

TKe simple linear spacing of tKe earlier works Kas
developed into more subtle and less apparent design;
tKe contrast of Horizontal and uprigKt Kas given place
to undulating masses and rKytKmic interchange of
form. TKe curve becomes significant. TKe flat thinly
painted contours of tKe FrencK period are followed
by an evasive sense of form, suggested ratKer than
defined. TKe edges are carefully lost and found with
a resulting effect of volume, The painter is continu*
ally experimenting with space relations and varies
the proportions of His canvas to carry out His scHe*
matic intention. Occasionally we see a decided oblong,
nearly in the proportion of one to two; but more gen*
erally the composition is spaced within a square pro*
portion, the skyline being placed high in the canvas,
so that the eye does not travel beyond, but is arrested
and entertained in the middle ground. Twachtman
was, in fadt, one of the fir^t of our landscape painters
to use the square canvas, and the new possibilities

44

of spacing within an untried proportion resulted in
many interesting innovations in design.

The mood is one of intimacy and charm. The
spectator stares with the painter the exhilaration of
the moment, the feeling that each motive is a new-
discovery. One senses the animation of artistic ad*
venture, the delight in the search for the beautiful.
Twachtman has shown us the country in the dress
of different seasons, hut perhaps the mot appealing
are the neutral hues of November and the snows of
winter, when the intricate forms of nature are re*
placed hy undulating fields of snow. One can see the
soft contour of the hills and the rhythmic flow of line;
the outcropping rocks; the old stone wall that fbl*
lows the easiest way over the hills; or the brook is
revealed winding in and out of snow covered banks,
and withered brambles remind us of the earth under*
neath. Naturalistic accuracy of detail is subordinate
ed to more universal relations, and the impression is
produced by suggestion rather than by objective de*

meation.

Twachtman was, however, interested particularly
in the delicate and ethereal manifestations of winter,
when the snow is revealed by a hidden radiance or
softly falling, dims the distant landscape. Typical of
this effect is the "Round Hill Road" in the Evans col*
lection at^W^ashington. The country, snow covered,
is veiled in ambient atmosphere, and the distance is
almost lost in the moisture laden sky. Within a
square canvas the road winds to the right, forming a

45

high embankment at the top of which a stone wall
rambles down tlie hill, while poplar trees form a dec?
orative sequence, winding into the distance. The val?
ues are closely related. The technique is suggestive
of soft surfaces and flowing forms. In the "Snow", at
the V/orcester Museum, we see a similar effect in
elusive grays, but in a more Viatic composition. Un?
der a barren Kill in light contour against a dull sky a
simple house with snow covered roof occupies the
center of the canvas, the dark barn like door forming
an effedtive contrast to the snow covered fields. Slen?
der trees break the horizontal line of the roof. The
pigment is applied in a heavy under painting, over
which the darks of the trees and rocks are rendered
with a facile wash. There is a sense of silence and
serenity in the almost naive and simple conception of
the subject.

It is interesting to compare this pidture with the
"Old Mill in Winter", wherein we see the same sub?
jedt from a little further viewpoint. But the concep
tion is quite different. The mil and house, instead of
being placed directly against the sky, appear in front
of a wooded distance, which is high in the composi?
tion. The brook ju^t below the foreground embank?
ment creates a contract, leading into the pidture,
where the open doof again gives an emphatic touch.
In the m& picture the impression is one of austere sol?
itude; in thje second pidture there is a sense of friendly
protection and association expressed in the flowing
of stream and hills. Thus we see the painter

46

NIAGARA FAIXS

Canvas, 30 inches high, 25 incbes wick. Signed a lower left,
**]. H. Twaehiaoan".

evolving entirely different themes from similar pic*
torial material. It is also interesting, relative to the
natural aspedt of the subjedt, to note how tlie artist
has added or taken away trees to quicken his ae^lhet*
ic expression, but has, nevertheless, in both pidtures
preserved the fundamentally local character of the
landscape.

The pidlure of snow in the RostonMuseum entitled
^February" is conceived within an oblong proper
tion. Here again we have the simple relation of new
tral hues and an even diffused light without shadows
or contrasts. A brook winds below undulating fields
of snow, above which evergreens stand against a
clouded sky. The surface quality is produced by
heavy underpainting, over which the tree forms are
deftly drawn. The grouping of the trees is not alto*
gether happy, overcrowding the center of the com*
position and allowing the eye to run out of the un*
decorated area at the right. The rocky embankment
across the stream is splendidly constructed, and the
sense of intricate forms among the trees where the
brook descends is effectively suggested. The subject,
seemingly unpictorial, has through intimate appreci*
ation become imbued with vital significance,

In the picture called "Snowbound", the artist has
chosen his theme just below his studio. Under the
snow embankment of the encircling hills the running
stream cuts its way, creating curious fet-ms of wliite
against its darker background. The painter has ex*
pressed with iinassuinic^ air and perfect simplicity

47

tKe intimate cKarm of secluded Kills and tlie way*
ward course of unconcerned waters. TKe slender
trees seem to Kave Keen added later. TKe value con*
trast of nature is modified, so tKat dark uprigKts sKall
not di^turK tKe pristine purity of almost etKereal snow
forms, Kut tKeir introduction is not entirely an organs
ized part of tKe composition.

In tKe pidtures of snow we find tKe distinctive at*
triKute in tKe utterly unaffected simplicity of cKarac^
terization. Entirely uninfluenced Ky tKe standardized
conception of composition and wKat a suKject sKould
Ke to make a picture, TwacKtman takes tKe mo^t
Komely tKeme and makes it interesting Ky Kringing
out its essential cKaradleri^tics.

TKe pidtures of autumn we associate witK gray
days and modified Kues, ratKer tKan tKe more vivid
and apparent colors of tKat season. Here again
TwacKtman avoids tKe oKvious and tKe spectacular.
\V r e do not recall a frankly Klue sky or a contrasting
orange so typical of autumn. But Ke does not con^
tinue tKe Krown tones of Kis predecessors. Painted in
a KigKer key, tKe russet colors of autumn are apparent
only Ky relation to tKe dominant cool palette. TKere
is a delicate Kloom wKicK pervades tKe color scKeme,
Kringing to tKe landscape an etKereal cKarm. Typical
of tKe late autumn season and tKe artists mood is tKe
"Hemlock Pool". TwacKtman considered it one of
Kis Kest canvases. WitKout aiming at tKe poetic, it is
imKued witK tLe essence of poetry ; witKout tKinking
of picture making, tKe painter Kas revealed tKe pio

48

turesque. Simple, suggestive and serene, the "Hem*
lock Pool^ is a magical revelation of hidden beauty,
made apparent by the sympathetic eye of the painter,
Painted ju^l below the artist's house, a supreme char*
adterization of a local situation, the pidture makes,
nevertheless, a universal appeal.

The landscape of summer is not so frequently ren*
dered. The problem of greens is reduced to a modi^
fied hue, rather than the full intensity of the pigment.
More sympathetic to the summer mood was the sea
haze, the harbor and the refledted coolness of summer
skies. V/e recall, however, several interesting color
schemes in late afternoon light, when the green in
shadow has a delightful bluish tone and the sunlight
is golden hued. Mo^t important of the landscapes in
the season of green is the large canvas entitled vv Sum=
mer", now in the collection of Mr. Duncan Phillips.
It is an interesting problem in design and local char*
adterization, revealing the contour of long rolling
hillside, the gradual uphill road, the house with slop
ing roof, the flying clouds and fleeting shadows, all
brought together in a manner which not merely dis*
closes the general topography of the country, but
brings to it an indefinable and sympathetic charm
which is inspired by the painter's personal concept
tion. The color scheme is in cool gray greens and
gray blue.

Painting diredtly from his subjedt and dependent
upon nature for suggestive impulse and

Twachtman's later work, however, becomes more

49

consciously synthetic and deliberately organized.
From the realistic influence of impressionism and the
doctrine of atmospheric illusion the artist comes to
appreciate tke more abstract significance of design
and to use it as a creative means of expression. This
evolution of the aesthetic idea is interestingly illus^
trated in the series of waterfalls which Twachtman
painted just helow his house at Greenwich. The firSt
studies are the tnoSt naturalistic, studies of a particular
waterfall having the ordinary aspedt of the ordinary
waterfall. Later, the forms are enlarged and simpli*
fied, the angle of vision is reduced, the perspective is
limited, a single aspect is pictured, and the action of
the water is represented, not hy a faithful and nat*
uralistic rendering of the surface qualities of water,
hut by selecting the moSt expressive forms and so
arranging the design that these forms are an integral
and structural part of the composition. The waterfall
in the nearby woods thus becomes aesthetically as im*
portant as the overwhelming immensity of Niagara.
The artist has seized the universal in the particular.

In the Yellowstone Park Twachtman painted sev*
eral of the varicolored pools n the falls of the Yellow*
stone, and the canyon. But these canvases, although
Interesting in color, have not the same intimate charm
as the moi?e familiar subjedts found nearer home.
Twachtfflan was evidently not impressed by the gran*
dear and sublimity of nature, or perhaps thought it
outside of the limitations of pictorial representation.

" sense the fact too that he is happier within the

TSB CASCAJDE

Collection of Mr. Horado a B^foens, New Yodk
30 inches high, 30 inches wide. Signed at lower tdt,
~J. H.

human habitat, where the presence of man, if not
indicated, is always suggested. He failed to human*
ize the Yellowstone, or to bring to it that human
emotion which might do so, but he brought back
some splendid bits of color from its opalescent pools
and radiant waterfalls. His intimate placing of forms
and his endeavor to see things in a new way are,
however, not so happy in the presence of great con*
structive forces where nature has built on a grand
scale and has patterned everything relative to stress
and strain. Twachtman was not impressed by that
elemental power; nor did he attempt to express it.
He is more purely sensuous in his perception.

The pidtures of Niagara are happier. Here the ter*
rible and relentless power, the elemental force of na*
ture, is veiled with mists and the evanescent hues of
the rainbow. The variations in white, the subtle re*
lation of values, and the delicate harmonies of closely
related hues appealed to the painter's aesthetic sensi*
bility. The rhythmic movement of water, the re*
peated action of the waves, the rising vapors were
as the realization of an artistic vision. Twachtman has
revealed this beauty and showed us something other
than the largest falls in the world, but he has not ex*
pressed the force, the volume and immensity of this
marvelous exposition of nature's power.

The pidiures of Gloucester represent the final pe*
riod of Twacitmans production. Harbors and sMp*
ping seem always to have held a vague fascination
for the painter, who enjoyed the pidtorial suggestive*

ness of houses, wharves, water and their infinite pos?
sibilities for artistic arrangement.There was a human
association too, which though not directly indicated
in the pictures appealed to the painter. And perhaps
there was a reawakening of tlie earlier romantic days
at Venice. His quest was as eager and spirited now
as in the more youthful time, but his thought is scat?
tered over many canvases and in His maturity he is
still adtuated by momentary impulse. It is reflected
in his painting. There is a joy in the fir^t attack, but
in many of the canvases we feel the lack of sustained
effort, the consistent building up of pictorial purpose,
and an over reliance upon the mood of the moment.
In consequence, the result is uneven. His pidtures of
this period have not a sense of perfectness, the inevi*
table conclusion of an idea carried out in definitely
conscious and calculated terms. In experimenting
with the unity of form and color and their effective
relations, the painter has neglected their content and
significance. There is little differentiation in substance
and surface, that relation which exists between the
solid and the soft, the resisting and the non^resisting,
and in short those distinctions which are based upon
the relativity of things and their impression upon the
human mind apart from the visual illusion. Charming
in arrangement, suggestive and technically spirited,
one does not feel the fullness of form, the volume and
solidity which are a part of complete realization.
Many of the Gloucester pidtures are, in fact, unfin*
ished, canvases which were started in a moment of

interest and then discontinued. But the bel examples
attain great beauty of design and individual express
sion, Among these, perhaps the mol interesting are
the motives looking down on tlxe harbor from tKe
kills of Ea^l Gloucester, where the fish houses and
wharves jutting into the water and the distant city
form an effective background for the rocky pastures
and patterned trees of the nearer plane. Each pidture
seems to a certain extent an experiment, a venturing
into new realms of consciousness and appreciation,
and it is precisely this quickened spirit that the paint*
er has so successfully imparted to the spectator.

At Gloucester Twachtman made numerous "thumb
box" studies, suggested possibly by the early "po*
chades^ofVenice, impulsive sketches which allowed
the painter to artistically improvise without that con*
tinued effort which is so necessary in the larger com*
position and which allows of that casual treatment
which is not so satisfying on a larger scale. Diminu*
tive in size, there is a mastery of touch and a bigness
of conception which lends to these little souvenirs a
true distinction and ^tyle.

As a figure painter Twachtman achieves a very
happy ensemble and an intimate realization of his
subjedts in their own environment. There is nothing
deliberately contrived or set up. He seems to sur*
prise a living moment and transfer it to canvas. His
subjects are never on show. \VTien the figure forms
the principal element of interest, his constructional
rendering is aot altogether convincing, but Twacht*

53

man had a splendid sense of poise and posture and a
fine understanding of contour and silhouette. This
gives to his compositions an authority and diSiindlion,
without which his figures would seem somewhat
empty.

Trained as a figure painter in the Academical
schools of Europe, few of the early examples survive,
as much of the continental work was lost at sea. The
canvases which best represent Twachtman in this
genre date from the Greenwich period, and are for
the most part pictures of his immediate family. Not
portrait studies or physiognomical characterizations,
the figure is seen as a whole, and the painter finds his
interest more in the attitude and suggested environ*
ment than in detailed delineation and likeness. He is
interested particularly in the luminous envelopment
of the figure and in the study of the local color as mod*
ified by the dominant hue of the light.

Twachtman never used a Studio in the academical
manner. His subjects were painted in their accus*
tomed environment and thus assume a naturalness
and intimacy quite foreign to the cold light of the
Studio proper. Tbis indicates again the impression*
able rather than the analytical nature of the artist.
Twachtman is pure vision. He eliminates as much
as possible the intervention of the intellectual. His
figures, therefore, are not so interesting as individual
characterizations as for their artistic significance.

FIGURE IN

Prof>erty of Mr. Frank 1C M, Rehn, New York.

Canvas, 26 inches high, 21 inches wide. Signed mt the left,

*J. HL Twachtman".

PART FIVE

TWACHTMA1STS technique has three distindt
manifestations, which may be associated with the
three different periods of his work. The first is diredtly
influenced by the methods of Munich and the manner
of Duveneck, a practice which the painter found in
vogue on his advent in the German schools in iS/5 . A
revolt against the classicism of the preceding epoch, it
was a return to the realism and the more diredt paint*
ing of the masters of the low countries. Influenced
by the new movement of France, in which the vigor
of Courbet was a constructive force, the artist saw
his subjedt in nature rather than in imagination or
the historical drama of the past. The classical method
was a thin coloring over a carefully modulated un*
dertone. It was based on drawing. The reaction rec*
ognized the definite characteristics of the brush. It
was based on painting. Constructively the emphasis
was placed upon planes and contours, rather than the
more sculpturesque development of the round real*
ized by chiaroscuro. The composition was arranged
by mass rather than line. The teachers encouraged
diredt painting and bold brushwork, in contrast to
the somewhat effete polish of their predecessors. Not
imitating surface qualities the paint was applied with
unctuous impasto and brushed with expressive sig*
nificance. It was a splendid training for our painter
and accounts for his technical facility acquired at an
early age. The method is, however, more adapted to
the construdtion of linear planes and strongly dkarao

55

terized contours than it is to aerial perspective and
envelopment.

Tlie transitional stage is observed in several small
canvases painted at Avondale between "So and ^83.
The brown palette of Munich is retained, but tlie pigs
ment is applied more tbinly and evenly. It is not,
however, until tlie French period that we see a com*
plete change in technique. V/hether this was due
entirely to Parisian influence, the requirements of
new subjedis, or the response to the aesthetic efflor
escence we shall not say, but it is apparent that the
change of technique is intimately related to the change
in expression, and the manner and matter are welded
into one. The simple lines of French landscape, the
lowdying hills, the gray expanse of sky and mirrored
waters, the evanescent atmosphere were not suited
to the exploitation of pyrotechnics in pigment, and
the painter showed his artistic sensibility in adopting
a more sympathetic method of expression. V/hereas
in the earlier manner we observe expressive unc*
tuous brush work and impulsive improvisation, in
the French landscapes we see a thin, flowing brush,
a blending of colors and a more methodical control of
the pigment, The contours show a delicate refradtion
as one plane merges into the other, a softening of the
edge, which is sympathetically related to the gray
tones of the subjedL The robust vigor of the Munich
manner is replaced by delicacy and reserve; the agita*
tion of varying contours by simple flat surfaces,

It is not until the final period of the nineties that

we observe tKe mature manner of the painter and his
more personal characteristics. His method of paint*
ing was a direct outcome of his aesthetic idea. As he
pictured the more elusive and evanescent effects of
nature, so too his technique is elusive and subtle. He
seems to lend to his treatment something of the spirit
of the thing itself The snow is heavy, though soft,
and the texture of the pigment indicates its surface;
the flowing water is painted with a rapid and express
sive brush; the painted flowers of the field seemim*
bued with the delicacy of their own nature.

"Working directly from nature,Twachtman*s man*
ner "was, however, indiredL As he was not a realist
in the literal sense of the term, his search was firdft for
the aesthetic filling of space, and therefore the begin*
ning of the pidture seemed almost formless and unin*
telligible. This was done in a light wash or scumble
and with the observance of only the mo^fc significant
masses and color relations. Several of his later can*
vases have been left in this fir^t state, unfinished, and
yet in the creative sense complete. This first vision
preceded any further work on the canvas, and if safe
isfying, all went well; if not, the struggle and torment
of adjustment played havoc with the surface. But
before the painter was satisfied with the arrangement
there could be no further development of the more
imitative embellishment of the pidture. This is why
Twachtman, in the last phase of his work, was not a
finished painter in the academical understanding of
the term. He did not follow a fixed or conveiitkmal

57

metkod of painting . It is not affedled, insistent or mans
nered; but on tke contrary is varied as a result of kis
different pictorial problejtns suggested by tke ckarae*
ter of tke subjedt and tKe mood of tke moment. His
mettiod was tke outcome of an idea rattier tlian tke
exposition of a metkod.

Frequently Twacktman ackieves kis result" "a pre*
mier coup", witk a deligktful flow of color . Tke move*
ment of tke brusk is free and unconscious, tke pigs
ment is animated and suggestive. But altkougk im^
pulsive and exkilarating, die effect is somewkat tkin
and lacking in tkat solidity and fullness of form wkick
ke ackieved wken working over carefully prepared
undertones. For Twacktman \vas not a facile or clev^
er painter; nor one v^ko relied on tecknical tricks and
factitious effedis. Tke painting is not exploited for
itself^ but is preceded by tke artistic vision wkick ac*
tuates it, and Twacktman^s vision \vas far too refined
and searcking to be content merely witk professional
proficiency.

If Twacktman did not strive for meticulous finisk
or a suave ingratiating surface, ke attained a very
personal tecknical style, and one quite consistent witk
tke effedi wkick ke desired to produce. \Vorking
in a kigk key, ke deliberately avoided an unctuous,
vamisklike efiedt and would frequently expose kis
pictures to sun and rain to relieve tke pigment of
superfluous oil and tkus produce a uniform mat or
dry surface. Altkougk seemingly free in kandling,
Twacktman often labored incessantly over kis canvas

BEACH At S^UAM

Collection of Mr. Burton Maasield, New Haven, Conn.

Canvas, 24 inches high, 30 inches wide. Signed ac lower left,

"I R Twachtman".

before He achieved the desired result. In fact, He relied
greatly on building up an opaque underground to pro=
duce a suggestive texture which allowed the painter
to work in thin, semi-transparent washes, by means
of which he rendered so successfully the illusion of
the atmospheric veil and imparted a freedom of brush"
work which Has the air of casual improvisation.

Although susceptible to the colorful innovations
of the impressionists and their technical expression,
Twachtman was not interested in the science of color
and did not attempt to create the optical illusion of
light by the juxtaposition of complimentary con*
trasts, or the method of the so called "Pointillists^or
"spotiSts"in rendering it. Using broken or division
of color to quicken and enhance its activity, he did
not make of it a mannerism or cultivate it as an ele*
ment of Style.

\Vhen Emil Carlsen told Twachtman that he was
a great technician, Twachtman said,"Technic, I don't
know anything about it". It is often true that one \>&
comes utterly unconscious of that about which one
knows most, and to become entirely unconscious of
technic is certainly to have mastered it.

PART six

'T'HE ETCHINGS of Twachtman were :
JL ing the late eighties, at a time when the
painters were using the needle with a quickened in*
terest in line as a means of original expression, <

59

trailed to the Stereotyped professional etckers of an
earlier period. V/kisder kad awakened a keen inter?
est in tke aestketic possibilities of tke art, its express*
ive significance and power of suggestion. Duveneck's
plates were produced between tke years 1880 and
1884, and altkougk kis mastery of tke medium and
kis virile, solid construction were not so tempting for
tke novice to follow as tke more simple and alluring
treatment ofWliistler, tkey, never tkeless,eStablisked
an American precedent, particularly for tke young
followers of tke master in Italy. It was natural, tkere*
fore, tkatTwacktman skould be tempted by tke new*
ly discovered possibilities of tke medium. If by nature
ke was not sufficiently self disciplined ever to become
a tecknical master of tke resources and processes of
tke art, ke was artistically peculiarly fitted to use tke
needle in a most efledtive manner. His understanding
of significant line and kis appreciation of space rela*
tions at once gave Mm tke moSt valuable attributes of
tke painter etcker, wkile kis discerning vision and
responsive kand furtkered tke more objedtive real*
ization of tke subjedt. Ever more interested in tke
beauty of form tkan tke form in itself, kis aspiration
was more closely related to tke art of \Vkisder tkan
tke more robust and objedtive expression of Duven*
eck, and kis best plates skow a sensibility similar to
tke former master. Tke true value of Twacktman's
etckings lies, tkerefore, not so muck in tke exposition
of tke art as in tke expression of tke artist.

60

Twachtman etched twenty*six plates, mostly di*
minutive in size, though some were 8 x 12 inches or
larger. Many of the compositions are from previous
pictures or drawings, so that the conception was well
visualized before the wax was drawn upon. Al*
though preserving an air of impromptu and a flair of
familiarity, the line was very definitely and con*
sciously considered. The foreign subjedls, eight in
number, are somewhat heavy in execution and biting
and less personal than the later motives found nearer
home.

The fc "Mouth of the Seine", evidently from the pic*
ture of the same subjedt, is however most felicitous
in spacing and in emphatic but suggestive line. The
artist had a sensitive regard for the unetched surface,
and the characterization produced by the accentua*
tion of line and spotting of darks. In the "Quay at
Honfleur" the white sail of a nearby boat is effective*
ly contrasted to the ma^ts and rigging which form
a weblike background. The figure on the quay is
suggestive of WTiistler. The Venetian plate of the
Guidecca lacks the beauty of balance and design so
characteristic of the artist.

In the two landscapes of Avondale, the nervous,
sensitive touch is mot suggestive and descriptive;
summary in manner, yet full and expressive in real*
ization. The little plate of Branchville has sometlung
of the significant treatment of the familiar "Six's
Bridge" of Rembrandt. Casual in its effedt, it is morft
subtly calculated in design. One realizes in this ex*

61

ample tKat true distinction and j^tyle are entirely ir*
relevant to tKe so-called importance of a subject, and
it may require a more Kigbly sensitized appreciation
of line to convey tKe sense of the unaffected, random
or natural tlian tKe more ambitious compositional
conception. In "TKe Old Mill, Bridgeport", tKe dilap*
idated framework Kas been made to express some*
tKing of majesty irrespective of motive, and tKe form
Kas been made a true produdt of tKe mind.

TwacKtman is at Kis be^i in tKe Bridgeport group.

TKe angular pidluresqueness of docks, buildings and

boats is particularly adaptable to Kim. TKe intimacy

and animation of tKe water front made a very personal

and Kuman appeal to tKe painter. TKere is sometbing

peculiarly American about tKe pKysiognomy of tKese

window? spotted frame Kouses, tKe sea = worn piers

witK outstanding piles, tKe ligKt rigged yacKt, and

tKe Keavy, unkempt barges, all jumbled togetKer in

an odd mixture of kind and condition. NowKere else

is tKere quite tKis same salt sea slovenliness, of use

and disuse. TKe dock is public property, a meeting

place as free as tKe KigK seas, and as adventurous.

TKis was particularly true during tKe time of our

painter. TKe sKanty is now obsolete, tKe pier is privs

ate property, and tKe water front is parcelled out to

industrial companies. \K/e see tKe reflection of man

in Kis works and TwacKtman Kas portrayed tKe Ku*

man aspedtofKis subjedt witKinstinc&ve understand*

ing and incisive effedL

FAILS IN JANUARY

Collectkm of Mr. Robert C Vose, Boston,
Canvas, 25 inches tagh, 30 indies wkie. Signed at kwtr rigbi,

PART SEVEN

A BBOT THAYERis quoted as saying, "Twacht*
^\^ man is like a beautiful flower growing up in a
new country". This is particularly applicable to the
artist as a pa^telli^t. Twachtman made of the medium
a personal expression. He used the dry color for its
delicacy and purity, and with an aesthetic regard for
its definite limitations. Rather than attempt a full
realization of the subjedt, he sees in pastel a means of
suggestion and chooses a subjedt compatible with its
nature. \Ve remark again the influence of "Whistler
in technical pradtice and aesthetic guidance. Like
V/hisder, Twachtman employs a gray or buff cart
ridge paper, and uses the chalk as a means of drawing
in color as suggested by its own nature, rather than
as an imitation of the fuller technical method of the
oil medium. The color registers, therefore, relative
to the background, which is left the natural color of
the paper, and the pastel is applied with a due regard
for its delicacy and with expressive and sensitive
touch.

Twachtman executed few pure landscapes in pas*
tel, but made many interesting notes about the harbor
of Bridgeport, some lovely little drawings of his chtk
dren, and moi& truly personal and unique are the ex*
quisite Studies of field flowers. W"e have remarked
that in the early pidtures ofTwachtrnan the fii^t plane
begins in the immediate foreground, and that he res**
dered the rushes and flowers with great slriH and
sympathetic understanding. In the panels the flow*

ers become the subjedt. Drawn against a background
of neutral toned paper, the color is rendered in delis
cate harmonies, the form lightly and deftly suggested.
Unstudied in composition, without apparent arrange?
ment, tbe flowers of tbe field seem to radiate some?
thing of their own wild but exquisite nature. In no
other form has Twachtman registered a more per?
sonal expression. Not conventionally decorative or
striking in effect, these delicate Studies are a beautiful
tribute to the subjedt and the medium in which they
are manifested.

In the drawings of the artist's children one remarks
at once their intimacy and unaffected charm. Not
deliberately posed, the subjedt seems to be arreSted in
a happy moment and is fixed only on the painted
surface. There is a certain endearment in the way
in which the colored stroke is rendered, a sensitive
refledtion of the artistes temperament and a silent tes?
timony of his affedtion.

There is a great charm also in many of the notes
made about the painter's home at Greenwich, slight
and unpretentious, but delightfully suggestive. In a
certain way these sketches display Twachtmans
highest attributes as an artist. Unencumbered by the
technicalities of the heavier medium, he uses pastel
with purely intuitive mind. Before the blank paper
he sees his vision complete, and with a few magical
strokes realizes it perfectly. Twachtman had an in?
stindtive ability in placing a subjedt and this sense of
relative adjustment is nowhere more fully manifested

than in ttie pastels. The Twachtman house at Round
Hill, which figures in so many canvases, is perhaps
more perfedtly placed in some of these seemingly ran=
dom notes than in the more ambitious pidtures.

Of the Bridgeport group we recall particularly the
old "Footbridge", the one which we see reversed in
the etching of the same subject. The artist has seized
in this temporary ^Irudture its significance as pure
form, and has so rendered it in oblong spacing as to
bring out its essential nature. A relic of the pa^t, the
old footbridge remains on paper a permanent record
of aesthetic achievement.

PAlrf EIGHT

IT has been frequently remarked that Twachtman
was entirely unappreciated during his lifetime, and
that his art was ahead of its time. 'V/ith the passing
years this assertion has been repeated and accepted.
In the real sense this is not true. "We mu^t beware of
measuring our degree of appreciation by prices paid
in the salesroom; as we must also beware of overstate
ing the significance at the present time of one who is
thought to have been neglected in his own time. The
more we appreciate the departed artist in the present,
the more we insist on his lack of appreciation in the
pa^t. It premises an understanding "which -was not
given to the painters contemporaries; an applause
which becomes sentimental and colorless. In bod,
Twachtman is now taken for granted. Thus do we
truly create our dead makers.

65

I bowever, we measure tbe degree of apprecia*
tion of an artist's work by the records of tbe sales^
room, we must conclude tbat Twacbtman's art is
now universally appreciated and agree tliat during
bis lifetime it was entirely negledted. But we muSt
not confuse art and Business; and Twacbtman was
notably a poor man of business. It is true tbat lie bad
several prominent patrons and tbat lie was never in
any immediate danger of Starvation; but on tke wbole
lie was commercially not a success. Artistically,
Kowever, Twacbtman was recognized and bonored,
not only by bis confreres, but by amateurs. If it is a
fadt tliat many artists did not eitKer enjoy bis pidtures
or approve of bis artistic principles, it only reveals
tbat bis work was reckoned witb and tbat otKer
artists bave personal opinions also. Universality of
agreement is a sure sign of atropby . One does not
criticise Velasquez for bis inability to admire Ra^
pbael, or Ingres for bis admiration of bim.

It muSt also be remembered tbat Twacbtman died
comparatively young. Several of bis contemporaries,
wno were tlien equally unsuccessful, bave since met
witb notable success, and undoubtedly Twacbtman,
bad be lived, would tbrougb accumulated recognition
bave come completely into bis own.

It was a part of Twacbtmans genius tbat be ex^
pressed tbe temperament of bis time, and if we may
judge tbe appreciation of bis work, not by its universe
ality, but by its intensity, we are inclined to say tbat

66

it was moSt fully and rightly appreciated at the time
of its production.

The period of the nineties in America was quick*
ened by an intense artistic impulse. The pictures of
the Impressionists, whose work had been proclaimed
abroad, bad revolutionized tbe visual world, and our
young American painters who had studied in France
returned with enthusiasm and youthful exhilaration.
But fortunately they did not return merely with a
formula or a fad. The great lesson which they learned
was to appreciate and portray their environment.
V/histler had shown that the pidtorial possibilities of
a place depend upon its susceptibility of arrangement,
rather than its scenic or associative value. Monet,
less sensitive to the niceties of decorative adjustment,
but infatuated with the glory of sunlight and the
great outdoors, transcribed with sensuous exuberz
ance the ever changing pidture of the world of light
and color. The Vv^est was becoming awakened to the
aesthetic significance of the EaSt. It was an art of sug?
gestion and decoration rather than representation.

These universal influences are intimately refledted
in the later work of Twachttnan. Not imitating or
echoing the work of others, he happily assimilated
the significant expression of his time. ToV/hisder he
owes much of his interest in decorative arrangement,
his search for the suggestive, his militant dislike of
conventional composition and hackneyed banalities.
Through V/hisder he came to know something of
the art of the Japanese which quickened his natural

susceptibility to design. But die relation is indirect
and we see little outward manifestation in TwacKt*
man's pidtures. It is more appreciable in some of tKe
etcKings and pastels in wKicK it colors to a certain
extent the cboice of subjedt and technique.

If "Wliistler incited T wacKtmans aeStKetic sensi*
bility and Stimulated tKe searcK for new discoveries
in line and form, Monet awakened Kis appreciation
of ligKt and color. Previously using color only in an
extremely modified sense, a new world of beauty
seems to reveal itself^ and die painter revels in tike
subtle Karmonies of sunligKt and atmosphere. If in die
early work tKe subjedt is seledted for tKe pidturesque
contract of ligKt and dark, in tKe later work we find
everything dependent upon tonal relations and unity.
In tfiis Ke ecKoes tKe spiritual yearning of tKe period,
tKe love for tKe nuance as expressed in tKe Kaunting
verse of Verlaine, wKerein tKe sound Kas a magic^
al affinity witK tKe suggested sense; tKe plaintive,
epKemeral melodies of Debussy; tKe variations of
V/Kisder; or tKe colorful Karmonies of Monet. TKe
artist veils tKe form and tKe manner of expressing it,
leSt it be too apparent. TKe message is indtredt. It is
essentially a suggestive expression. At times tKislove
of subde relations led to weakness, wKen tKe effedt
becomes so illusive as to be almost lost; and at times
it assumes sometKing of tKe nature of a Stunt, wKere^
in tKe painter Kas displayed only tKe keenness of Kis
observation. TKere is a fear of tKe over obvious.
WKisder Kad ridiculed tKe sunset. It was bad taste

68

to paint one. And Wliistler too kad enveloped kis
mood in mi^t.

Twacktman openly declared tlie decorative intenz
tion of liis painting. But ke did not define liis under?
Standing of tke decorative. He did not take a ready
made pattern and impose it on kis subjedl or translate
kis subjedt into a preconceived formula. Even suck
a di^tinguisked designer as Wliistler often adapted a
Japanese design to a subjedt witk wkick it kad no inner
relation. It is tkus tkat design is debased. Twackt^
man's work kas notking of ornamental prettiness
or affedted pattern. He was not artfully clever and
would kave found it more difficult to paint a popular
potboiler witk its ingratiating suavity and factitious
sopkistication tkan to conceive a pidture in kis own
backwoods. He avoided tke pidfcorial commonplace,
but ke made tke commonplace pidtorial. His interest
was not tkat of anornamentali^t or a realist. He took
a purely sensuous deligkt in tke beauty of tke visual
world, and felt a keen enjoyment in tke relative sig*
nificance of form and color. And tkis for Twackte
man was tke decorative. But tkere is sometking else
wkick gets into kis work for wkick we cannot ac*
count in tke purely decorative. It was tkat element
wkick was so muck a part of kis nature tkat tke
painter was not conscious of its existence. It was kis
indescribable appreciation of tke kuman significance
of tkings. Tkis vitalizes kis line and informs kis com*
position witk meaning, witkout wkick tke merely
decorative is empty. It is tkis mysterious, indefinable

something wKicK evades analysis tKat imbues his
work with enduring cKarm.

TwacKtman's artistic viewpoint is clearly ex*
pressed in the phrase of Kis friend, J. Alden \Veir, in
speaking of "the elimination of certain preconceived
ideas as to wKat constitutes a work of art". In cKak
lenging tlie Standardized and conventional concept
tions of tradition, nature at once l>ears re^exainination.
Discarding tKe stereotyped composition and tKe ac^
customed idea of picture making, tKe wKole world is
open for new discoveries. One realizes tKat realiza^
tion is a tiling of infinite mystery. Vs/e see nature as
we Kave been taugKt to see it. TKe popular pidture
is of interest largely on account of association or tKe
various Kuman endearments artificially grouped to#
getKer in a single composition. Seldom, Kowever,
does nature compose in tKe grand style. Instead,
tKerefbre, of forcing nature into a preconceived idea
TwacKtman sougKt beauty in nature; instead of
searching tKe country for places tKat conformed to
pidfcures, Ke endeavored to make pictures out of places.
TKis is quite different from saying tKat everything is
of interest and everytKing is of beauty. TwacKtman
was not a realist merely by way of jotting down ev?
ery day fadts. His subjedt was carefully considered
altKougK it was not a typical subjedt. It was seledted
for its inherent relations of form. Beauty is revealed
by mental comprehension. It is tKe manifestation of
appreciation and tKe painter's purpose to express it.
In tKe searcK for tKe scenic otKer painters Kad passed

70

beauty unaware; Twachtman ignoring the scenic,
discovered beauty in liis own comprehension of it.
His viewpoint was not apparent, but personal.

V/e are saying, in brief, that Twachtman was an
impressionist, and as such he was a follower rather
than an imitator of a movement. The derivation of
his impulse comes from France. But if the general
viewpoint is of foreign origin, Twachtman makes a
very personal use of it. He was, therefore, more in*
dividual than original. This is at once apparent if we
compare his work with the initiator of the moves
ment, Claude Monet. \Vhereas we may observe
similar characteristics, we will find that the Structure
al form of the composition, the aesthetic organization
and its technical manifestation are quite different.
Monet has a more colorful palette; a more vigorous
and exuberant expression, as he was in physique like*
wise more robuSt. Twachtman is more delicate and
reserved, more subtle and evanescent. In line Twachte
man has a more rhythmic sense, a presentation less
obvious, and an approach to stylistic distinction;
while Monet is more natural and apparent. ^With our
own maSter, Theodore Robinson, who was in a way
a connecting link between Twachtman and Impress
sionism, there are likewise certain similarities and as
apparent differences . Robinson painted at Greenwich
for a time and was closely associated with Twachfe
man. Robinson was technically more clever and fe^
licitous, more graphic and deliberate in characterize
tion; but Twachtman had a finer and more unusual

7 1

sense of design, a freer use of paint, and if more sensi^
tive in perception, at tiie same time more monument^
al in expression.

V/ith the other members of the impressionistic
group in America we find a common purpose but ins
dividual expression. Thus ^Veir, wlio was so much
in sympathy with Twachtman's aims and attain*
ments and influenced by similar sources, created quite
a different Style. But both artists were tonaliSts, re*
duced tlie value contrails to a very limited range, and
worked in variations of modified hues, \Vith mutual
enthusiasms their choice of subjedt was, however,
governed by individual selection, with an inclination
for things different, but never afiedting the bizarre or
the sensational. Yet both had a flair of modernism.
Hassam is more truly decorative. Never in altogether
spiritual rapport with nature, he uses it as a back^
ground for deliberately arranged figures, or sees in it
a means of ornamental exposition. In manner more
truly impressionistic, in color more prismatic, he has
not the same suggestive charm of Twachtman, but is
more effedtive and Striking.

I however,, we make contracting comparisons we
shall discover not only Twachtman's characteristics,
but his apparent limitations. Thus, if we compare
Twachtman with M^inslow Homer, we will see im*
mediately the subjedtive aspedt of the former and the
objedtive aspedt of the latter; the personality of the
one and the impersonality of the other. Twachtman
delicate, ephemeral, evanescent; Homer bold, vigor?

ous and dramatic. Tbe one biding tbe form of nature
in atmospberic refradtion; tlie otber seeking to reveal
it by Striking contract. Twacbtman using tbe illusion
of suggestion, sensing tbe softness of ambient form;
Homer expressing tlie austerity and uncompromising
severity of natural force and substance. Both, works
ing diredtly from nature, tbe attainment is strikingly
opposed.

WTien we speak of Inness we enter quite a diff*
erent realm. Enveloped in a romantic baze, loSt in
colorful illusion, moved by tbe recurrent cbanges of
nature, tossed witb turbulent skies, batbed in golden
glow, we become a part of a soul imbued and efHo^
rescent world. Impassioned, intense and dramatic,
tbe pidtures of Inness seem overcharged in tbe pres*
ence of tbe wistful and quiet canvases ofTwacbtman.
Swayed by tbe great impulses of nature, tbe fleeting
moments of splendor, Inness portrays ber moods witb
poetic fervor, wbile Twacbtman seeking tbe tran^
quility of sequestered places sees in nature a motive
for an appealing arrangement.

Contracting comparisons if irrelevant are some*
times iUuminating. One recalls tbe pbrase of Buffon,
"Le style c^eSt rkomme".

Twacbtman was not a universal genius. His emo*
tional readtions were limited. Sensitive to tbe refined
and tbe delicate, bis nature did not respond to tbe
powerful and tbe dramatic. Quickened by tbe allur*
ing lines of grace and tbe barmonic relations of tones,
lie is oblivious to tbe stress and strain of nature, its

73

massive bulk and age defying constancy. His work
is imbued witK cliarm and feeling. Finely attuned to
tKe fleeting, it misses tKe eternal. TKe ennobling emo*
tions, tKe transcendent tKougKt, tKe moods of tKe
mind, are not reflected in tKe evanescent Kues of tKe
master. Dependent upon optical Stimulation and tKe
exKilaration of tKe moment TwacKtinan lacks some*
tKing of tKe universal quality tKat transcends tKe
particular. \Vorking diredily from nature Ke misses
tKe more ab^tradt significance tKat comes from medi*
tation. It is a sensuous ratKer tKan an intellectual art,
and is tKerefore more pleasing tKan profound. But,
Kowever limited, it is pure and unadulterated. It is
useless to compare tKe violet and tKe oak. BotK are
unique. If TwacKtman does not soar in tKe universal
empyrean, Ke lures us to tKe tranquility of Kis own
world of beauty.

74

BIBLIOGRAPHY

North. American Review, 1902. An appreciation
by his friends and fellow painters.

The Art of John H. Twachtman. By Charles C.
Curran. The Literary Miscellany; Winter, 1910,

John Henry Twachtman. By Eliot Clark. Art in
America; April, 1919.

John H. Twachtman. By Carolyn C. Mase. In?
ternational Studio; January, 1921.

The Art of John Twachtman. By Eliot Clark
International Studio; January, 1921.

American Painters ofWinter Landscape. By Eliot
Clark. Scribner's Magazine; Deceml>er, 1923.

Paintings by Twachtman. By Royal Cortissoz.
Ne-w YorkTribxine; January 12, 1919.

JoknH.Twaditman. Preface to Catalogue. Buf=
falo Fine Arts Academy; Marcb, 1913.

Jolm H. TwacKtman. Loan Exbibition, Century
Association. An appreciation, signed "A/IV\

Jobn H.Twacktman. By Charles deKay. The Art
World; June, 1918,

Jolm H. Twaaktman. By Forbes Watson. Arts
and Decoration; April, 1920.

Jokn H. Twacktman's Etchings. By Margery
Austen Ryerson. Art in America; February, 1920.

The Art and Etchings of John HenryTwachtman.
By R. T. W^ickenden. Frederick Keppel Si Co.

MEDALS AND HONORS

In 1893 TwacKtman was awarded a medal at tKe
Columbian Exposition in CKicago; in 1888 tKe^vVebb
Prize, Society of American Artists; in 1894 Temple
Gold Medal, Pennsylvania Academy of tKe Fine Arts;
in 1901 Silver Medal, Pan American Exposition, Bu
falo. He was a member of tKe Society of American
Artists; tKe Ten American Painters; tKe New York
EtcKing Club; and tKe Pastel Club, New York.

EXHIBITIONS

TwacKtman Sale. American Art Galleries, 1903.
Loan Exhibition. Lotos Club, N.Y., Jan. 5, 1907.
TKe Buffalo Fine Arts, MarcK n, 1913.
San Francisco Exposition, 1915.

Loan ExKibition. Century Association, N. Y.,
MarcK, 1919.

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