AN APPRECIATION: Theodore Robinson Theodore Robinson was an American artist, best known for his Impressionistic landscapes and genre scenes. He is associated not only with several of the American Impressionists but was a good friend of Claude Monet.
Robinson was born in Irasburg, Vermont on July 3, 1852 but the family moved first to Illinois and then to Wisconsin. His father was a minister and a farmer. He began his study o art at the Art Institute of Chicago. However, difficulties resulting from chronic asthma forced him to leave for the cleaner air of Colorado. Later, in 1874, he studied at the National Academy of Design in New York and was an early student at the Art Students League of New York. In 1876, Robinson made his first journey to France. In Paris, he studied with the painter Carolus-Duran, whose students also included John Singer Sargent, but he soon left that studio in order to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux Arts where he studied with the academic painter Jean-Leon Gerome. One of Robinson's works was accepted for exhibition at the Paris Salon of 1877. Robinson's style at this point was academic realism. His work appears uninfluenced by the revolution in art that the Impressionists were unleashing in Paris at that time. In late 1879, Robinson returned to the United States after a visit to Venice where he may have met James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Back in the U.S., Robinson worked a number of art related jobs including magazine illustration, and teaching art. He joined the American Society of Artists and spent time in New England painting landscapes and rustic genre scenes. His influences at this point included Thomas Eakins and Winslow Homer. In 1884, Robinson returned to Paris where he would live, with occasional trips back to the U.S. until 1892. One day in 1877, Robinson and some artist friends boarded a train in order to search for a location where they could paint rural landscapes. They came upon a small village that was just what they were looking for and decided to stay for awhile. According to some sources, Robinson and his friends were unaware that Giverny was the home of Claude Monet. By the time the young artists arrived, Monet had been renting a house in Giverny for a few years. His reputation was growing and in a few years, he would have enough money to buy the house and its gardens. Young artists were already coming to Giverny just to be near the Impressionist master. It is credible that Robinson did not come to Giverny because of Monet. The American's style was not Impressionistic when he arrived. However, as someone active in the Paris art world, he must have at least have heard of Monet. In any event, while Monet tolerated rather than encouraged the young artists who came to Giverny, he became good friends with Robinson. He was not Robinson's teacher but the two artists would discuss art. Monet confided his ideas to Robinson and often asked his opinion about various paintings he was working on as did Robinson. In 1888, Robinson returned to Giverny and took up residence in the house next to Monet's. Naturally, Robinson's style became Impressionistic. However, he did not copy Monet's style. Rather, Robinson's style was informed by his academic training and his palette never became as joyous as that of the French artist. In addition, while Monet was moving away from including figures in his works, Robinson often featured people. One of Robinson's best known works depicts the wedding procession of Monet's step-daughter and American artist Theodore Butler. In 1892, Robinson left France for the United States. He intended to return but this would prove to be his last time in France. Back in the United States, Robinson settled in New York City. Although he was becoming a successful artist and a leading American Impressionist, Robinson had to teach in order to supplement his income. He taught at the Brooklyn Art School, Evelyn College in Princeton, New Jersey and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Robinson painted scenes of the New York area and later painted some urban scenes like his friends J. Alden Weir and Childe Hassam. He also traveled to Cos Cob, Connecticut where he painted with his friend John Henry Twachtman. In 1895, Robinson had his first one-man show. He also Robinson traveled to Vermont where painted a series of pictures. He felt that in returning to the land of his birth, he had found his place in America and he intended to return there, perhaps taking up year-round residence. He also wrote to Monet about another visit to France. However, his plans were never fufilled as he died from an attack of acute asthma in April 896. |
Above: In Robinson's best known work "The Wedding March," the step-daughter of Robinson's friend Claude Monet is marrying American artist Theodore Butler.
Below: Robinson's style turned Impressionistic during the years he was living in Giverny near Monet. Robinson often included figures in his Impressionistic works. Above: "In the Sun". Below: "Père Trognon and His Daughter at the Bridge".
Above: A late work - - "Jamaica, Vermont"
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Artist appreciation - Theodore Robinson