Autumn Mists

Details

John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902)
Autumn Mists
signed 'J.H. Twachtman' (lower left)
oil on canvas
25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2 cm.)

Provenance

Silas S. Dunstin, 1905.
Burton Mansfield, New Haven, Connecticut, by 1912.
Sale: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, American Landscapes: The Private Collection of the Late Burton Mansfield, 7 April, 1933, lot 69.
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, acquired from the above.
Leroy Ireland.
Dr. and Mrs. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania, by 1957.
Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York.
Dr. Simon Joseph, White Plains, New York, 1969.
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, by 1975.
Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York.
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 27 October 1977, lot 37.
Galleries Maurice Sternberg, Chicago, Illinois.
Private collection, acquired from the above, circa 1978-79.
Sotheby's, New York, 3 December 1998, lot 27.
Spanierman Gallery, New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Literature

"Coming Auctions: American-Anderson Galleries, Mansfield Paintings," Art News, April 1, 1933, p. 11
R.J. Boyle, "John H. Twachtman: An Appreciation," American Art & Antiques, November-December 1978, p. 77, illustrated

Exhibited

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Carnegie Institute, 1911
New York, Lotos Club, 1912
Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester Art Museum, 1912
Providence, Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design, Catalogue of Paintings from the Collection of Burton Mansfield, Esq., New Haven, Connecticut, May-September 1912, no. 43
Hartford, Connecticut, Morgan Memorial, Exhibition of Paintings, Pottery and Glass Loaned by Hon. Burton Mansfield of New Haven, April 1920, no. 29
Yonkers, New York, The Hudson River Museum, Art in Westchester from Private Collections, September-November 1969, no. 35

Lot Essay

In discussing John Henry Twachtman's refined interpretation of Impressionism, made manifest in brilliant landscapes such as Autumn Mists, Richard Boyle has written: "Twachtman achieves a subdued and subtle poetry which extends beyond the particular method that conveys it. It is Impressionism, yes, but it is not the lush, bold, and gregarious painting of the French or of such compatriots as Childe Hassam or Frank Benson. Twachtman's painting is full of 'contradiction and complexity.' A myriad of brushstrokes, a manifold set of colors and tones, combine somehow to give the impression of great simplicity; or, conversely, the rendering of a single tree or a pond or the glimpse of a small waterfall reveals an absorbing complexity of ideas and feelings. His pictures are often indicative of a kind of 'Less is more' philosophy; yet, technically, they often embody the reverse as well." (R.J. Boyle, John Twachtman, New York, 1988, p. 56)

This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Twachtman's work being compiled by Ira Spanierman and Dr. Lisa N. Peters.

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