Theodore Robinson (June 3, 1852April 2, 1896) 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.

Training and early career

thumb|left|Robinson in 1882

Robinson was born in Irasburg, Vermont. His family moved to Evansville, Wisconsin, and Robinson briefly studied art in Chicago. In 1874 he journeyed to New York City to attend 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. and in the same year became a member of the Society of American Artists.

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.

While his reputation as an important American Impressionist 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 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.

Final years

thumb|Nantucket, 1882

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.

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File:Robinson The Layette.jpg|The Layette, (1882)

Image:Robinson Girl at Piano.jpg|Girl at Piano, (c. 1887)

File:By the River Theodore Robinson 1887.jpeg|By the River, (1887)

Image:Theodore Robinson - Capri.jpg|Capri, 1890, Collection Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid

Image:Theodore Robinson - The old bridge.jpg|The Old Bridge, 1890. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Image:Theodore Robinson (1852-1896) - Père Trognon and His Daughter at the Bridge (1891).jpg|Père Trognon and His Daughter at the Bridge, (1891)

Image:The Valley of the Seine, from the Hills of Giverny A30809.jpg|Valley of the Seine from Giverny Heights, (1892), Corcoran Gallery of Art

File:Robinson House with Scaffolding.jpg|House with Scaffolding, (1892), North Carolina Museum of Art

File:Theodore Robinson - Le Cortège nuptial.jpg|The Wedding March, (1892)

File:Brooklyn Museum - A French Hamlet - Theodore Robinson - overall.jpg| A French Hamlet , (1892) Brooklyn Museum

File:Robinson In the Sun.jpg|In the Sun (1892), a study of his romantic companion Marie

File:Robinson Canal Scene.jpg|Canal Scene, (1893)

Image:Theodore Robinson - Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club (1894).jpg|Low Tide Riverside Yacht Club, (1894), Collection of Margaret and Raymond Horowitz

File:Theodore Robinson - World's Columbian Exposition - 2010.73 - Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.jpg|World's Columbian Exposition (1894), Collection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Image:RobinsonTheodoreJamaicaVermont.jpg|Theodore Robinson, Jamaica, Vermont, (1895)

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Notes

Further reading

  • 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
  • American impressionism and realism : a landmark exhibition from the Met, a 1991 exhibition catalog from the Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries