Theodore Robinson - Training and early career, Robinson at Giverny, Return to America, Final years

Painter, born in Irasburg, Vermont, USA. After attending the National Academy of Design in New York City (1874) and helping found the Art Students League, he studied in Paris (1876–8) and returned to the USA. Up to this time he painted in a conventional realistic manner, but after a second stay in France (1884–8), particularly after meeting Claude Monet in 1887, he embraced and promoted the Impressionist style. He settled in New York City (1892), determined to apply the Impressionist style to American subjects, as in ‘Port Ben, Delaware and Hudson Canal’ (1893) and ‘Union Square in Winter’ (1895).

For the British Olympic archer, see Theodore Robinson (archer).

Theodore Robinson (July 3, 1852 – April 2, 1896) was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes.

Training and early career

Robinson was born in Irasburg, Vermont. His family moved to 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. 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.

Robinson at Giverny

In 1884 Robinson returned to France 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.

At Giverny, Robinson painted what art historians regard as some of his finest works.

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 York, near the Catskill Mountains, where he painted several canal scenes.

With New York City as his base, Robinson circulated among a growing number of American artists pursuing Impressionism.

Final years

While his reputation as an important American impressionst was growing, Robinson still needed to teach to support himself.

In 1895 enjoyed a productive period in Vermont, and in February 1896 he wrote to Monet about returning to Giverney, but in April he died of an acute asthma attack in New York City.

Today Robinson's paintings are in the collections of many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City;