For the past several years on Twitter, I’ve seen the iconic image of Special Agent Dale Cooper giving a thumbs-up at The Roadhouse every hour on my timeline. I’ve long wondered what painting is behind him in this shot from Episode 2009 in Season 2. Today, I have the answer.
DALE COOPER HOUR
A few years ago, I began following @DaleCooperHour on Twitter, which shared the same image of Kyle MacLachlan’s character Agent Dale Cooper sporting a thumbs up until June 17, 2021. The scene is from Episode 2009 shortly after he receives his pinky ring back from The Giant with the answer to “Who killed Laura Palmer?” It’s a silly account but I love the image so much that I couldn’t resist following it.
While researching another article for the blog, I stumbled upon a clearer image of this painting in Episode 2019 as Ben Horne is leaving the Roadhouse. I cropped the image and used Google Image search. Bingo! I found something.
“RETURN FROM THE HUNT”
A few years ago, The Coeur d’Alene Art Action offered this piece by Western artist Frank Tenney Johnson titled “Return From The Hunt.”
The painting was made in 1934 and is most likely a subject found in Yellowstone National Park. Johnson had a studio in Cody, Washington from 1931-1939 and he spent many hours in the park painting these images from the Western frontier.
The original oil on canvas painting measured 25 x 30-inches and was signed and dated. At auction, it sold for $327,250! The Roadhouse set didn’t have the original piece. Most likely it was a reproduction lithograph, something you can still find today on various art sites.
FRANK TENNEY JOHNSON
Frank Tenney Johnson was born in Pottawattamie County, Iowa in 1874. He was raised on his family’s farm along the old Overland Trail, near Big Grove, Iowa (now known as Oakland, Iowa). Johnson enrolled in the Milwaukee School of Art in 1893 and moved two years later to New York City to study art at the Art Students League of New York.
Johnson was an illustrator for several well-known publications including “Field & Stream,” “Boys’ Life” and “Cosmopolitan.” He also provided illustrations for Zane Gray’s Western novels. He lived in New York City from 1904 until 1920, making numerous trips out west to study subjects for his works.
Johnson was considered a “Master of the Moonlight” paintings. ArtistsNetwork.com best described his approach and style:
Johnson loved to paint cowboys and Indians going about their daily lives, especially the Navajo. On an early western trip, Johnson noticed that the Navajo Indians he had been studying preferred to stay indoors during the intense heat of the day and did their traveling and moving around at night. This crucial observation led him to draw and paint the Indians and cowboys who lived and worked in the western night, especially under the bright, clear moonlight. Using canvasses laboriously prepared with chalk and vermilion, and left to dry for up to a year, he developed techniques which allowed him to create stunning nocturne paintings of remarkable depth and color. He quickly realized that nocturnes were a subject that he could make his own.
These remarkable paintings often featured figures lit by moonlight, campfires, kerosene lamps or, as in one painting, a cowboy on a horse lighting a cigarette with a match. It wasn’t long before he abandoned commercial work to paint full time and sell his work in the top galleries of the day.
Sadly, Johnson died young on New Year’s Day 1939 in Pasadena, California. He attended a social event with his wife a few days earlier. He contracted spinal meningitis after greeting a socialite with a kiss on the cheek. His wife died a few days later then he succumbed to the disease.
APPEARANCES IN TWIN PEAKS
The painting is only seen in a handful of Season 2 episodes beginning with Episode 2004. Sheriff Truman surprises Agent Cooper at the Roadhouse after asking for help from the Bookhouse Boys. I love how Cooper arranged the peanuts and shells on the bar top.
When the Log Lady joins Truman and Cooper at the Roadhouse in Episode 2007, we see the painting as they enter the room.
It remains in the background through Julee Cruise’s musical performances and the old waiter sharing his condolences with Agent Cooper.
EPISODE 2009
Episode 2009 is the one where the image is most often seen.
It’s mostly seen as there are so many players who enter through the main doors of The Roadhouse.
Even when lightning flashes fill the Roadhouse set, we can see parts of the painting in the entryway.
Whether coming or going from the Roadhouse, the painting is still there.
These two shots show the entire entrance to the Roadhouse. I really would love to find those additional images in this scene (one day!).
Here it is! The shot that started my quest.
Thumbs-up!
Thumbs-up with faux lightning.
REST OF SEASON 2
We don’t return to The Roadhouse until Episode 2009 when preparations are being made for the Miss Twin Peaks Contest. The painting is in the background when Ben Horne addresses the committee.
As mentioned, we get a great shot of the painting when Ben leaves. Interestingly, the two images next to the wooden contraption on the wall are missing in this shot but they are seen in the previously shared wide-angle.
We see it two more times in Episode 2019 – when Lana addresses the committee and when Nadine and Mike arrive. Notice the other woman at the table in the bottom image – that’s the hand-shaking pie girl from the next episode (there is a whole article waiting to be written about her as she is in several additional episodes).
Episode 2020
A brief appearance of the painting is found in Episode 2020 when Mayor Milford arrives.
FINAL APPEARANCE
Episode 2021 contains the final appearances of this Johnson painting. It begins with an image of the crowd reacting to the Miss Twin Peaks contest.
It’s also found when Agent Cooper, Sheriff Truman and Deputy Andy arrive.
A wide-angle shot from behind Audrey Horne shows the painting in the distance.
Even when the lights go out at The Roadhouse, we can see the painting.
FIRE WALK WITH ME
The painting is nowhere to be found when Laura Palmer enters the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
I love this shot of her – it’s perfect. While Frank Tenney Johnson’s image wasn’t included on this set, a different image from the Double R Diner makes another appearance.
Norman Yeckley’s “Spring Formal” makes the leap from one set to another as documented in this story.
