Landscape, Branchville
Encyclopedia
Landscape, Branchville (also Branchville Lane or Branchville) is an oil on canvas painting by John Henry Twachtman
. Painted c. 1888, it is Twachtman's largest known work, and was painted in front of the home of his friend J. Alden Weir
.
, and were instructors at the Art Students League of New York
. Twachtman was best man at Weir's wedding, and named his son "Alden" after Weir's middle name. A frequent guest at Weir's farm in Branchville, Connecticut, in the southeast corner of Ridgefield, Connecticut
, Twachtman rented a home nearby in the summer of 1888 to work alongside Weir. Of painting in the country Twachtman wrote Weir: "I feel more and more contented with the isolation of country life. To be isolated is a fine thing and we are then nearer to nature".
Working together in Branchville, Twachtman and Weir sought to bring the lightness of touch of their watercolors and pastels to oil painting; the import of their experiments was recognized by critics when they exhibited in New York the following winter.
Landscape, Branchville was painted three years after Arques-la-Bataille, the only other canvas by Twachtman of similar size. However, whereas the earlier canvas was painted with the intention of exhibiting at the Paris Salon
, Twachtman's rationale for the scale of Landscape, Branchville is not known. The paintings are exceptional within Twachtman's ouvre: but for a few canvases that extend to 40 or 50 inches in width, most of his notable paintings are less than 30 inches wide.
, Twachtman painted an apparently unremarkable and intimate view.
Landscape, Branchville depicts the landscape, looking to the west, from the front door of Weir's home. Sky comprises the upper third of the painting, with the land carved into diagonals by a winding path. A large tree to the right of center, extending to the top of the canvas, is the sole vertical stanchion. Composed of patches of green and reddish ocher, the ground plane is loosely painted, with the undertone of the canvas showing through toward the bottom of the canvas. The handling gibes with Twachtman's prioritization of breadth over detail. It may also reflect an increasing interest in French Impressionism, examples of which had been exhibited in New York in 1886.
The forms of a similar composition in pastel entitled Tree by a Road (Cincinnati Art Museum), have been further distilled, and may have been painted after the oil.
, which deaccessioned the painting in 2004.
John Henry Twachtman
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...
. Painted c. 1888, it is Twachtman's largest known work, and was painted in front of the home of his friend J. Alden Weir
J. Alden Weir
Julian Alden Weir was an American impressionist painter and member of the Cos Cob Art Colony near Greenwich, Connecticut...
.
Background
Close friends, Twachtman and Weir were members of The Society of American Artists, the Tile Club, and the Ten American PaintersTen 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...
, and were instructors at the Art Students League of New York
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...
. Twachtman was best man at Weir's wedding, and named his son "Alden" after Weir's middle name. A frequent guest at Weir's farm in Branchville, Connecticut, in the southeast corner of Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
, Twachtman rented a home nearby in the summer of 1888 to work alongside Weir. Of painting in the country Twachtman wrote Weir: "I feel more and more contented with the isolation of country life. To be isolated is a fine thing and we are then nearer to nature".
Working together in Branchville, Twachtman and Weir sought to bring the lightness of touch of their watercolors and pastels to oil painting; the import of their experiments was recognized by critics when they exhibited in New York the following winter.
Landscape, Branchville was painted three years after Arques-la-Bataille, the only other canvas by Twachtman of similar size. However, whereas the earlier canvas was painted with the intention of exhibiting at the Paris Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
, Twachtman's rationale for the scale of Landscape, Branchville is not known. The paintings are exceptional within Twachtman's ouvre: but for a few canvases that extend to 40 or 50 inches in width, most of his notable paintings are less than 30 inches wide.
Description
The same height and just one inch wider than Arques-la-Bataille, Landscape, Branchville is a work of vastly different effect, and represents a transitional moment in Twachtman's career. Instead of a consciously formal and carefully arranged composition— Arques-la-Bataille was painted in the studio from sketches— Branchville is characterized by a vigorous spontaneity that suggests plein-air painting. Rather than choosing a subject of natural grandeur for large-scale treatment, as had painters of the Hudson River SchoolHudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
, Twachtman painted an apparently unremarkable and intimate view.
Landscape, Branchville depicts the landscape, looking to the west, from the front door of Weir's home. Sky comprises the upper third of the painting, with the land carved into diagonals by a winding path. A large tree to the right of center, extending to the top of the canvas, is the sole vertical stanchion. Composed of patches of green and reddish ocher, the ground plane is loosely painted, with the undertone of the canvas showing through toward the bottom of the canvas. The handling gibes with Twachtman's prioritization of breadth over detail. It may also reflect an increasing interest in French Impressionism, examples of which had been exhibited in New York in 1886.
The forms of a similar composition in pastel entitled Tree by a Road (Cincinnati Art Museum), have been further distilled, and may have been painted after the oil.
Provenance
Ownership of the painting went from Twachtman to Weir, who once told an art collector "I would sooner lose my right arm than sell one of Johnnie Twachtman's paintings!" By 1957 it was in the possession of Twachtman's son Alden, and in 1968 was bought by Harry Spiro. In 1979 Landscape, Branchville was given to the Columbus Museum of ArtColumbus Museum of Art
The Columbus Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio.-Building:...
, which deaccessioned the painting in 2004.