Provenance
The artist; (his estate sale, American Art Association, New York, 24 March 1898); William T. Evans [1843-1918], New York; (his sale, American Art Association, New York, 31 January - 2 February 1900); Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
Accession Number
2014.79.30
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 65.9 × 81.6 cm (25 15/16 × 32 1/8 in.) | framed: 97.2 × 113 × 14.6 cm (38 1/4 × 44 1/2 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund)
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Theodore Robinson (1852-1896) was an American painter known as the first American Impressionist, whose work in Giverny alongside Monet represents the earliest sustained engagement of an American painter with French Impressionism. The Valley of the Seine, from the Hills of Giverny from 1892 depicts the Seine valley from the Giverny hills in the Impressionist manner that Robinson developed under Monet's influence during his stays in Giverny. The 1892 date places this in Robinson's most productive Giverny period, when he was producing the Impressionist landscapes that represent the earliest sustained American engagement with French Impressionism.
Cultural Impact
The Valley of the Seine, from the Hills of Giverny is important in the history of American Impressionism because it represents the earliest sustained engagement of an American painter with French Impressionism. Robinson's Giverny landscapes show Monet's influence absorbed and adapted by an American painter, creating a type of American Impressionism that is simultaneously French in manner and American in subject.
Why It Matters
The Valley of the Seine, from the Hills of Giverny is Robinson's American Impressionism at its most French-influenced: the Seine valley rendered in the Impressionist manner that he developed under Monet's guidance in Giverny. The 1892 painting represents the earliest sustained American engagement with French Impressionism.
