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Figure in Sunlight (Artist's Wife)
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
John Twachtman painted many portraits of his wife and children between 1889 and 1902. These were among the few figural works he made during a career devoted mostly to landscape painting. Twachtman did not believe in stiff, formal poses, and in this image he painted Martha seated comfortably in front of the family's small farmhouse.He had led a nomadic life before marrying and settling in Connecticut, and the soft,glowing colors of this scene convey the comfort of his new home and family. The blurred outlines and rich yellows and greens of the background evoke the warm, hazy atmosphere of a summer day.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineFigure in Sunlight (Artist's Wife). ca. 1890-1900. John Henry Twachtman, born Cincinnati, OH 1853-died Gloucester, MA 1902. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly. CC0.
