Overview
Painted 11 years after
Art historian John Wilmerding observed that The Seine is surprisingly modern when compared with the majority of Tanner’s works, noting that “the soft colors and gauzy silhouettes, the open expanse of water and sky, and the high horizon serving to flatten the spatial recession are all Whistlerian in character.” Perhaps intended as a memento for a friend in Philadelphia, The Seine was an impromptu study and not destined for exhibition. Though small, this exceptionally evocative painting possesses some of the mood and mystery characteristic of the artist’s better-known religious subjects.
More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II, pages 196-198, which is available as a free PDF (21MB).
Inscription
lower left: F.F. Gut[ekunst] / H.O. T[anner] / [...]y 10, 1902; on cardboard backing now removed: Presented to / Mr. F. F. Gutekunst / H.O. Tanner / Seine 1902 Paris
Provenance
Frederick F. Gutekunst [1831-1917], Philadelphia.[1] private collection; Graham Williford, Fairfield, Texas; purchased 1971 by NGA.
[1] The painting is inscribed on the reverse: "Presented to / Mr. F. F. Gutekunst / H. O. Tanner 1902 Paris", a reference to the artist's otherwise undocumented friendship with the noted Philadelphia photographer Frederick Gutekunst. Tanner presumably brought this painting to America 1903 and presented it to Gutekunst at some point during his lengthy stay in the country.
Exhibition History
- 1991
- Henry Ossawa Tanner, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Detroit Institute of Arts; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, 1991-1992, no. 37, repro.
- 2002
- L'impressionnisme américain 1880-1915, Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, 2002, no. 50, repro.
- 2003
- After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting, High Museum of Art, Atlanta; The Detroit Institute of Arts, 2003-2004, no. 60, repro.
- 2006
- Artists of the Commonwealth: Realism and its Response in Pennsylvania Painting, 1900-1950, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg; Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona; Erie Art Museum; James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, 2006-2007, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
Bibliography
- 1980
- American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 246, repro.
- 1980
- Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 17, no. 49, color repro.
- 1981
- Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: color repro. 161, 185.
- 1988
- Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 156, no. 55, color repro.
- 1991
- Mosby, Dewey F., Darrell Sewell, and Rae Alexander-Minter. Henry Ossawa Tanner. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1991: 134, no. 37.
- 1992
- American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 365, repro.
- 1997
- Mittler, Gene A., and Rosalind Ragans. Understanding Art. New York, 1997: 236, 295, fig.15-10.
- 1998
- Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 196-198, color repro.
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