The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 28, 2023

Deserted Wharf (The Old Mill at Cos Cob)

before 1899

John Henry Twachtman

(American, 1853–1902)

America, late 19th Century

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 61.5 x 51 cm (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.)

Bequest of Julia Morgan Marlatt 1942.122

Location

not on view

Description

In 1892, John Twachtman, one of the most imaginative of the American Impressionists, established a summer colony at Cos Cob, Connecticut. This painting depicts the Holley Mill near Cos Cob. Unlike the French Impressionists, who tended to analyze the effects of light and color in a scene, Twachtman was interested in expressing the pure poetry of color and his emotional response to the changes he observed in nature.

Provenance
Estate of the artist (American Art Association, New York, Sale of the Work of the Late John. H. Twachtman, 24 March 1903, probably no. 93 as Deserted Wharf; possibly to E.A. Rorke, New York); Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt, Cleveland; Bequest to The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942.
Exhibition history

Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, John Henry Twachtman: A Retrospective Exhibition (7 October-20 November 1966), cat. no. 83, listed p. 19.

Coshocton, OH, The Johnson-Humrickhouse Memorial Museum, American Paintings 1825-1915 from The Cleveland Museum of Art (7 July-1 November 1979)

Lakewood, OH, The Kenneth C. Beck Center, American Paintings 1825-1915 from The Cleveland Museum of Art (17 September-13 October 1980)

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Fraternité: Artistic Relations Between France and America (21 July-18 October 1987)

New York, National Academy of Design Museum, The Cos Cob Art Colony: Impressionists on the Connecticut Shore (13 February-13 May 2001); traveled to Houston, Museum of Fine Arts (17 June-16 September 2001); to Denver, Denver Art Museum (27 October 2001-20 January 2002); illus. cat. no. 77, pp. 103-136.

John Henry Twachtman Retrospective. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (October 7-November 20, 1966).

American Paintings 1825 - 1915 from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH (organizer) (July 7-November 1, 1979).

The Cos Cob Art Colony: Impressionists on the Connecticut Shore. National Academy of Design Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY (organizer) (February 13-May 13, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (June 17-September 9, 2001); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (October 27, 2001-January 20, 2002).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.122