John Henry Twachtman

This watercolor presents a forceful new style inspired by the bold brushwork and rich chiaroscuro palettes of 17th-century Dutch painters such as Frans Hals and Rembrandt van Rijn, whom John Henry Twachtman had studied in Europe. It may depict the outskirts of Polling, a small town in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps that was a favorite with American artists for its dense forests, open fields, and farmland.

Twachtman joined several fellow American artists to study in Munich in the mid-1870s. Classes at the Royal Academy there emphasized painting skills over traditional drawing techniques, signifying a break from the careful topographical drawings predominant in the United States.