Theodore Robinson
Encyclopedia
Theodore Robinson was an American
painter best known for his impressionist
landscapes. He was one of the first American artists to take up impressionism in the late 1880s, visiting Giverny
and developing a close friendship with Claude Monet
. Several of his works are considered masterpieces of American Impressionism
.
. His family moved to Evansville, Wisconsin
, and Robinson briefly studied art in Chicago
. In 1874 he journeyed to New York City to attended classes at the National Academy of Design
and the Art Students League
. In 1876 he traveled to Paris
to study under Carolus-Duran
and, at the École des Beaux-Arts
, with Jean-Léon Gérôme
. He first exhibited his paintings at the 1877 Salon in Paris, and spent the summer of that year at Grez-sur-Loing
. After trips to Venice
and Bologna
, he returned to the United States in 1879 for several years. During this time Robinson painted in a realist
manner, loosely brushed but not yet impressionistic, often depicting people engaged in quiet domestic or agrarian pursuits.
where he would live for the next eight years, visiting America only occasionally. Robinson gravitated to Giverny
, which had become a center of French impressionist art under the influence of Claude Monet
.
Historians are unclear when Robinson met Monet, but by 1888 their friendship was enough for Robinson to move in next door to the famous impressionist. Robinson's art shifted to a more traditional impressionistic manner during this time, likely due to Monet's influence. While a number of American artists had gathered at Giverny, none were as close to Monet as Robinson. Monet offered advice to Robinson, and he likewise solicited Robinson for opinions on Monet's own works in progress.
Not only did he take to heart Monet´s theoretical admonitions and his requirement to portray the beauties and mystery of nature in a manner stringently truthful to one's personal vision, but he also studied works that were available to him in "The Master´s" studio. For instance, Capri, painted in 1890, was probably inspired by Monet´s paintings of the cliffs at Varengeville, Pourville, and Etretat and the rocks at Bell-Ile of the early 1880s.
At Giverny, Robinson painted what art historians regard as some of his finest works. These depicted the surrounding countryside in different weather, in the plein air
tradition, sometimes with women shown in leisurely poses. An example of his mature work during this period is La Débâcle (1892) in the collection of Scripps College
, Claremont California.
, near the Catskill Mountains
, where he painted several canal scenes. He also taught at Evelyn College in Princeton, New Jersey
, and later at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
in Philadelphia.
With New York City as his base, Robinson circulated among a growing number of American artists pursuing Impressionism. He was particularly close to John Henry Twachtman
and Julian Alden Weir, and spent time at the nearby Cos Cob Art Colony
in Connecticut. There he painted a series of boat scenes at the Riverside Yacht Club which have come to be regarded as among his finest works.
Throughout his career, Theodore Robinson kept meticulous diaries, but only the last several years of the diaries are known to exist. These are in the collection of the Frick Art Reference Library
in New York and available to scholars. The art historian Sona Johnson, of the Baltimore Museum of Art
plans to publish an annotated edition of the Robinson diaries.
In the last year of his life he was asked to contribute to the book of essays titled "Modern French Masters" by the editor and art historian John Charles Van Dyke
. He wrote an essay on the Barbizon painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
and, because of his friendship with the French Impressionist, he wrote and illustrated the essay on Claude Monet
. The book was published in 1896 and his illustration of Monet was featured in the exhibition "In Monet's Light."
In 1895, Robinson enjoyed a productive period in Vermont, and in February 1896 he wrote to Monet about returning to Giverny, but in April he died of an acute asthma attack in New York City. He was buried in his hometown of Evansville, Wisconsin
. He was 43 years old.
Today Robinson's paintings are in the collections of many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City; the Corcoran Gallery of Art
, Washington, D.C.; and the Art Institute of Chicago
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter best known for his impressionist
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
landscapes. He was one of the first American artists to take up impressionism in the late 1880s, visiting Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
and developing a close friendship with Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. Several of his works are considered masterpieces of American Impressionism
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
.
Training and early career
Robinson was born in Irasburg, VermontIrasburg, Vermont
Irasburg is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2000 census.-Town:* Moderator - David Turner* Selectman - Randy Wells, Roger Gagnon * Town Clerk - Barbara Lawson* Town Treasurer - Barbara Lawson...
. His family moved to Evansville, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, and Robinson briefly studied art in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. In 1874 he journeyed to New York City to attended classes at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
and the Art Students League
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. In 1876 he traveled to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to study under Carolus-Duran
Carolus-Duran
Charles Auguste Émile Durand, known as Carolus-Duran , was a French painter and art instructor. He is noted for his stylish depictions of members of high society in Third Republic France.-Biography:...
and, at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, with Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.-Life:Jean-Léon Gérôme was born...
. He first exhibited his paintings at the 1877 Salon in Paris, and spent the summer of that year at Grez-sur-Loing
Grez-sur-Loing
Grez-sur-Loing is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France.-People:It is located 70 km south of Paris and is notable for the artists and musicians who have lived or stayed there...
. After trips to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, he returned to the United States in 1879 for several years. During this time Robinson painted in a realist
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
manner, loosely brushed but not yet impressionistic, often depicting people engaged in quiet domestic or agrarian pursuits.
Robinson at Giverny
In 1884 Robinson returned to FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where he would live for the next eight years, visiting America only occasionally. Robinson gravitated to Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
, which had become a center of French impressionist art under the influence of Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
.
Historians are unclear when Robinson met Monet, but by 1888 their friendship was enough for Robinson to move in next door to the famous impressionist. Robinson's art shifted to a more traditional impressionistic manner during this time, likely due to Monet's influence. While a number of American artists had gathered at Giverny, none were as close to Monet as Robinson. Monet offered advice to Robinson, and he likewise solicited Robinson for opinions on Monet's own works in progress.
Not only did he take to heart Monet´s theoretical admonitions and his requirement to portray the beauties and mystery of nature in a manner stringently truthful to one's personal vision, but he also studied works that were available to him in "The Master´s" studio. For instance, Capri, painted in 1890, was probably inspired by Monet´s paintings of the cliffs at Varengeville, Pourville, and Etretat and the rocks at Bell-Ile of the early 1880s.
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
tradition, sometimes with women shown in leisurely poses. An example of his mature work during this period is La Débâcle (1892) in the collection of Scripps College
Scripps College
Scripps College is a progressive liberal arts women's college in Claremont, California, United States. It is a member of the Claremont Colleges. Scripps ranks 3rd for the nation's best women's college, ahead of Barnard College, Mount Holyoke College, and Bryn Mawr College at 23rd on the list for...
, Claremont California.
Return to America
Robinson left France and Monet for the final time in 1892, although he meant to return. Back in America, Robinson obtained a teaching post with the Brooklyn Art School and conducted summer classes in Napanoch, New YorkNapanoch, New York
Napanoch is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York. It is at the junction of routes 209 and 55. It is on the Shawangunk Ridge National Scenic Byway, and is part of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area....
, near the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
, where he painted several canal scenes. He also taught at Evelyn College in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, and later at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
in Philadelphia.
With New York City as his base, Robinson circulated among a growing number of American artists pursuing Impressionism. He was particularly close to John Henry Twachtman
John Henry Twachtman
John Henry Twachtman was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impressionism to be among the more personal and experimental of his generation...
and Julian Alden Weir, and spent time at the nearby Cos Cob Art Colony
Cos Cob Art Colony
The Cos Cob Art Colony was a group of artists, many of them American Impressionists, who gathered in and around Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut, from about 1890 to about 1920....
in Connecticut. There he painted a series of boat scenes at the Riverside Yacht Club which have come to be regarded as among his finest works.
Final years
While his reputation as an important American Impressionst was growing, Robinson still needed to teach to support himself. He also harbored doubts about the quality of his work.Throughout his career, Theodore Robinson kept meticulous diaries, but only the last several years of the diaries are known to exist. These are in the collection of the Frick Art Reference Library
Frick Art Reference Library
The Frick Art Reference Library is a research institution affiliated with The Frick Collection. It is located at 10 East 71st Street in New York City...
in New York and available to scholars. The art historian Sona Johnson, of the Baltimore Museum of Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, was founded in 1914. Built in the Roman Temple style, the Museum is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works...
plans to publish an annotated edition of the Robinson diaries.
In the last year of his life he was asked to contribute to the book of essays titled "Modern French Masters" by the editor and art historian John Charles Van Dyke
John Charles Van Dyke
John Charles Van Dyke was an American art historian and critic. He was born at New Brunswick, New Jersey, studied at Columbia, and for many years in Europe. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1877 but never practiced law. He was appointed librarian at Sage Library, New Brunswick in 1878,...
. He wrote an essay on the Barbizon painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was a French landscape painter and printmaker in etching. Corot was the leading painter of the Barbizon school of France in the mid-nineteenth century...
and, because of his friendship with the French Impressionist, he wrote and illustrated the essay on Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. The book was published in 1896 and his illustration of Monet was featured in the exhibition "In Monet's Light."
In 1895, Robinson enjoyed a productive period in Vermont, and in February 1896 he wrote to Monet about returning to Giverny, but in April he died of an acute asthma attack in New York City. He was buried in his hometown of Evansville, Wisconsin
Evansville, Wisconsin
Evansville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,039 at the 2000 census . According to the 2010 census there are 5,012 people Since 2000, Evansville's population has increased over 21%...
. He was 43 years old.
Today Robinson's paintings are in the collections of many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York City; the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, Washington, D.C.; and the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
.
External links
- www.TheodoreRobinson.org 150 works by Theodore Robinson
- Capri from Theodore Robinson, in YOUR CITY AT THE THYSSEN, a Thyssen Museum's project on Flickr
- "An American Trying to Capture Monet's Magic," by Grace Glueck, a review of "In Monet's Light: Theodore Robinson at Giverny" art exhibition in The New York Times,August 5, 2006
- "When Your Neighbor is Monet" by Benjamin Genocchio, a review of "In Monet's Light: Theodore Robinson at Giverny" art exhibition in The New York Times, July 3, 2005
- Theodore Robinson, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Biography and works