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Icebound

Winter landscape painting with rocky stream lined by orange leafed trees.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Winter landscape painting with rocky stream lined by orange leafed trees.

Date:

c. 1889

Artist:

John Henry Twachtman
American, 1853–1902

About this artwork

During the last decade of his life, John Henry Twachtman frequently painted views of the landscape surrounding his home on Round Hill Road in Greenwich, Connecticut. In a departure from typically barren images of winter, he enjoyed depicting the beauty of the frozen terrain, believing that it was conducive to contemplation and regeneration. The dense, gradually built-up layers of paint in Icebound mimic the accumulation of snow on frozen ground, and the sinuous curves that define the snow and ice against the water suggest movement in an otherwise tranquil environment. Almost square in format, the painting’s harmonious composition exemplifies Twachtman’s opinion that “never is nature more lovely than when it is snowing.”

Status

On View, Gallery 273

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

John Henry Twachtman

Title

Icebound

Place

Connecticut (Place depicted)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1889

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed, lower right : "J. H. Twachtman"

Dimensions

642 × 76.6 cm (25 1/4 × 30 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Friends of American Art Collection

Reference Number

1917.200

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/72801/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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