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).