John Henry Twachtman
Encyclopedia
John Henry Twachtman was an American painter best known for his impressionist
landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impressionism
to be among the more personal and experimental of his generation. He was a member of "The Ten
", a loosely-allied group of American artists dissatisfied with professional art organizations, who banded together in 1898 to exhibit their works as a stylistically unified group.
Twachtman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
and received his first art training there under Frank Duveneck
. Like most artists of the era, Twachtman then proceeded to Europe to further his education. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich
from 1875 to 1877, and visited Venice
with Duveneck and William Merritt Chase
. His landscapes from this time exhibit the loosely brushed, shadowy technique taught at Munich. Twachtman also learned etching
, and sometimes carried etching plates with him that he could use to spontaneously record a scene.
After a brief return to America, Twachtman studied from 1883 to 1885 at the Académie Julian
in Paris, and his paintings dramatically shifted towards a soft, gray and green tonalist
style. During this time he painted what some art historians consider to be his greatest masterpieces, including Arques-la-Bataille, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York, and Springtime, in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum
.
, eventually buying a farm in Greenwich
. He often painted and exhibited with fellow artist Julian Alden Weir, and spent considerable time at the art colony
in Cos Cob
. His presence was vital to the colony:
In addition to his oil paintings, Twachtman continued to create etchings as well as drawings in pastel
. Twachtman taught painting at the Art Students League
from 1889 until his death in 1902. Twachtman was close friends with Julian Alden Weir and the two often painted together and both also had close associations with the Danish-born painter Emil Carlsen
. In 1893, Twachtman received a silver medal in painting at the Columbian Exposition
; the same year, he also exhibited his work with Claude Monet
at a New York gallery.
In Connecticut his painting style shifted again, this time to a highly personal impressionist technique. Twachtman painted many landscapes of his farm and garden in Greenwich, often depicting the snow-covered landscape. He executed dozens of paintings of a small waterfall on his property, capturing the scene in different seasons and times of day. Late in life Twachtman visited Gloucester, Massachusetts
, another center of artistic activity in the late 19th century, and produced a series of vibrant scenes that anticipated a more modernist style yet to gain prominence in American art.
Twachtman died suddenly in Gloucester of a brain aneurysm, aged 49. Today, his works are in many museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, New York; the National Gallery of Art
, Washington, D.C.; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
.
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impressionism
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
to be among the more personal and experimental of his generation. He was a member of "The Ten
Ten American Painters
The Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
", a loosely-allied group of American artists dissatisfied with professional art organizations, who banded together in 1898 to exhibit their works as a stylistically unified group.
Studies
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and received his first art training there under Frank Duveneck
Frank Duveneck
Frank Duveneck was an American figure and portrait painter.-Youth:Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of German immigrant Bernard Decker. Decker died when Frank was only a year old and his widow remarried Joseph Duveneck...
. Like most artists of the era, Twachtman then proceeded to Europe to further his education. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich was founded 1808 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich as the "Royal Academy of Fine Arts" and is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany...
from 1875 to 1877, and visited Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
with Duveneck and William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
. His landscapes from this time exhibit the loosely brushed, shadowy technique taught at Munich. Twachtman also learned etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
, and sometimes carried etching plates with him that he could use to spontaneously record a scene.
After a brief return to America, Twachtman studied from 1883 to 1885 at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris, and his paintings dramatically shifted towards a soft, gray and green tonalist
Tonalism
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
style. During this time he painted what some art historians consider to be his greatest masterpieces, including Arques-la-Bataille, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York, and Springtime, in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum
The Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies. Its collection of over 60,000 works make it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Midwest.Museum founders debated locating...
.
Maturity
In 1886 he returned to America and settled in ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, eventually buying a farm in Greenwich
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. He often painted and exhibited with fellow artist Julian Alden Weir, and spent considerable time at the art colony
Art colony
right|300px|thumb|Artist houses in [[Montsalvat]] near [[Melbourne, Australia]].An art colony or artists' colony is a place where creative practitioners live and interact with one another. Artists are often invited or selected through a formal process, for a residency from a few weeks to over a year...
in Cos Cob
Cos Cob Art Colony
The Cos Cob Art Colony was a group of artists, many of them American Impressionists, who gathered in and around Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut, from about 1890 to about 1920....
. His presence was vital to the colony:
"Twachtman's temperament--by turns gregarious and introspective, restless and serene--was a major factor in preventing the Cos Cob art colony from becoming a backwater of nostalgic complacency. Ironically, his lack of commercial success contributed to his artistic independence, freeing him from the temptation of producing salable pictures according to a proven formula. His art, conversation, and teaching fueled the creative fires of his friends and students in Cos Cob."
In addition to his oil paintings, Twachtman continued to create etchings as well as drawings in pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
. Twachtman taught painting at the Art Students League
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
from 1889 until his death in 1902. Twachtman was close friends with Julian Alden Weir and the two often painted together and both also had close associations with the Danish-born painter Emil Carlsen
Emil Carlsen
Soren Emil Carlsen was an American Impressionist painter who emigrated to the United States from Denmark...
. In 1893, Twachtman received a silver medal in painting at the Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
; the same year, he also exhibited his work with Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
at a New York gallery.
In Connecticut his painting style shifted again, this time to a highly personal impressionist technique. Twachtman painted many landscapes of his farm and garden in Greenwich, often depicting the snow-covered landscape. He executed dozens of paintings of a small waterfall on his property, capturing the scene in different seasons and times of day. Late in life Twachtman visited Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
, another center of artistic activity in the late 19th century, and produced a series of vibrant scenes that anticipated a more modernist style yet to gain prominence in American art.
Twachtman died suddenly in Gloucester of a brain aneurysm, aged 49. Today, his works are in many museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York; the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Washington, D.C.; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
.
See also
- Art Students LeagueArt Students League of New YorkThe Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
- Ten American PaintersTen American PaintersThe Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
- Society of American ArtistsSociety of American ArtistsThe Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
Further reading
- Peters, Lisa N. "John Twachtman (1853-1902): A 'Painter's Painter,'" Spanierman Gallery, 2006 ISBN 0-945936-77-X
External links
- www.johnhenrytwachtman.org 243 Works
- Biography and works, Cincinnati Art Museum
- John H. Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
- http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISORESTMP=results.php&CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer.php&CISOMODE=grid&CISOGRID=thumbnail%2CA%2C1%3Btitle%2CA%2C1%3Bdescri%2C200%2C0%3Bdate%2CA%2C0%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%3B20%3Brelevancy%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOBIB=title%2CA%2C1%2CN%3Bdate%2CA%2C0%2CN%3Bdescri%2C200%2C0%2CN%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%2CN%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%2CN%3B20%3Brelevancy%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOTHUMB=20+%284x5%29%3Brelevancy%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOTITLE=20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOHIERA=20%3Bdate%2Ctitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOSUPPRESS=1&CISOPARM=%2Ftb1+%3Acreato%3ATwachtman%2C+John+Henry%2C+1853-1902UNCG American Publishers' Trade Bindings: John Henry Twachtman]