Biografie von John Henry TWACHTMAN (1853-1902)

Birth place: Cincinnati, OH

Death place: Gloucester, MA

Addresses: NYC, 1888, 1894-97; Greenwich, CT (c.1889-1902)

Profession: Landscape painter, etcher, teacher

Studied: Ohio Mechanics Inst.; McMicken Sch. Des., Cincinnati with Duveneck, 1875; Royal Acad., Munich with Loefftz, 1875-77; went to Venice with Duveneck & W.M. Chase, 1877; Acad. Julian, Paris, with Boulanger & Lefevbre, 1883-85.

Exhibited: Brooklyn AA, 1878-79 (Venetian scenes); PAFA Ann., 1879, 1893-1902, 1906-09 (gold 1895); Boston AC, 1881-82, 1896-97; Paris Salon, 1884; SAA, 1888 (prize); Columbian Expo, Chicago, 1893 (medal); Am. Art Gals., NYC, 1893 (work by Weir & Twachtman); St. Botolph Club, Boston, 1893 (work by Weir & Twachtman); CI, 1899 (prize); NAD, 1879-98; An Exh. by Ten American Painters, Durand-Ruel Gals., NYC, 1898 (The Ten's first exh.) & St. Botolph Club, Boston, 1898; AIC, 1901 (solo); Durand-Ruel Gals., NYC, 1901 (solo); Knoedler Gals., NYC, 1904 (memorial exh.); Armory Show, 1913; Lotos Club, NYC, 1917; Cincinnati AM, 1966 (retrospective), 1999 (retrospective); Parrish AM, 1984 ("Painter-Etchers" exh.); Spanierman Gal., NYC, 1968, 1987, 1989 (solos); High Mus. of Art, Atlanta, 1999.

Member: SAA, 1879; Am. AC, Munich; Ten Am. Painters; NY Etching Club; Tile Club; Player's Club.

Work: MMA; NMAA; MoMA; Mus. New Mexico; BM; AIC; PAFA; Smith College Mus. Art; Cincinnati Art Mus.; WMAA; Lyman Allyn Mus., New London, CT; Parrish AM.

Comments: One of the leading American Impressionists and a member of the "Ten American Painters" group. When he died in 1902, his place was filled by Wm. M. Chase. Twachtman"s early style reflected the influence of Duveneck and the Munich school, while his residence in Paris (1883-85) saw the evolution of a more abstract Whistlerian style. He traveled widely illustrating for Scribner's (1888-93), and painted in Yellowstone Park in 1895; however, most of his mature works were painted on his 17-acre farm in Greenwich, where his palette become lighter, expressing poetic and subtle nuances of tone. During his Gloucester period (summers 1900-02) he reintroduced black in his paintings. In 1903, the American Art Gal., NYC, auctioned 98 of his estate paintings for $16,610. Signature note: He usually signed with a mix of upper and lower case letters. His earlier signature usually bears the German form with two "n"s. He also used the monogram "JHT." Posthumous editions of his etchings are signed by his son, Julian A. Twachtman (see entry), as "JHT per A.T." Teaching: McMicken Sch., Cincinnati, 1877; summer classes at Cos Cob, CT, 1890-on; Gloucester, MA, 1900-02.

Sources: WW01; Richard Boyle, exh. cat. (Cincinnati AM, 1966); Richard Boyle, John Twachtman (Watson Guptill, NY, 1979); Twachtman in Gloucester: His Last Years, 1900-1902, essays by John Douglass Hale, Richard J. Boyle, and William H. Gerdts (NYC: Spanierman Gal., 1987); In the Sunlight: The Floral and Figurative Art of J.H. Twachtman, essays by Lisa N. Peters, William H. Gerdts, John Douglass Hale, and Richard J. Boyle (NYC: Spanierman Gal., 1989); Lisa N. Peters, John Twachtman: An American Impressionist (High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga, 1999); P&H Samuels, 493-94; Cincinnati Painters of the Golden Age, 105-108 (w/illus.); Connecticut and American Impressionism 174-75 (w/repro.); American Painter-Etcher Movement 49; Fink, Amer. Art at the 19th C. Paris Salons, 399; Brown, The Story of the Armory Show.