Landscape

After studying in Munich and Paris, Twachtman settled in the harbor community of Cos Cob, Connecticut. Influenced by French painters in the Barbizon region who were dedicated to landscape and agrarian life as subjects for aesthetic inquiry, Twachtman and the growing colony of artists at Cos Cob created compositions of amplified light, characterized by quick, varied brushwork and high-contrast color harmonies. In time, the com-munity became synonymous with a philosophy of painterly effects and subjects called American Impressionism.This sketch dates to a yearlong period in 1887–88 when Twachtman rented a small farm in Branchville, Connecticut, next door to a close friend, artist J. Alden Weir. The two took daily walks across the surrounding fields and marshes, choosing vantages from which to paint en plein air. The result is a network of sketches and studies of recurring vegetation and farm buildings across different times of day and in different seasons.