The Valley of the Seine, from the Hills of Giverny

1892

Theodore Robinson

Associated Names
Theodore Robinson

Painter, American, 1852 - 1896

From atop a high hill, we look across a broad valley leading to a winding river in this loosely painted horizontal landscape. The scene is created entirely with visible brushstrokes in fresh and vibrant green and shimmering and smoky blues. The hill slopes from the right edge of the painting down to the valley, which extends into the distance, angling slightly to our right alongside the river. Darker green trees are along both sides of the river, and a few buildings line the far bank. The land beyond rises to sapphire-blue hills along the horizon, which comes about two-thirds of the way up the composition. A few white clouds dot the robin’s egg-blue sky above.

Media Options

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This sunlit panorama is set on the outskirts of Giverny, a village located 45 miles northwest of Paris. It shows the influence of Giverny’s most famous resident, painter Claude Monet. The French impressionist inspired his younger friend, the American artist Theodore Robinson, to lighten his palette and to relax his polished painting techniques.

Robinson also adopted Monet’s practice of depicting the same site multiple times. This is one of Robinson’s three views of the Seine painted under different light and weather conditions in the summer of 1892.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery M70

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

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.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1898

  • Oil Paintings and Studies by the Late Theodore Robinson, American Art Galleries, New York, 1898, no. 39.

1900

  • American Paintings Belonging to William T. Evans, American Art Galleries, New York, 1900, no. 250.

1951

  • American Landscape Painting from Kensett to the Present, Howard University, Washington, 1951, no catalogue.

1954

  • Extended loan, The White House, Washington, 1954-1959.

1961

  • American Landscape Painters 1800-1960, Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1961, no. 28.

1971

  • Americans at Home and Abroad, Meredith Long and Co., Houston, 1971, no .29.

1972

  • Conservation in the Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1972, unpublished checklist.

1973

  • Theodore Robinson, 1852-1896, Baltimore Museum of Art; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Ohio; Worcester Art Museum; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, 1973-1974, no. 43.

1980

  • La Pintura de los Estados Unidos de Museos de la Ciudad de Washington [Painting in the United States from Public Collections in Washington], Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 1980-1981, no. 34.

1982

  • Impressionistes Américains, Musée du Petit Palais, Paris; National Galerie, Staatlich Museum zu Berlin; Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna; Art Museum of the Socialist Republic of Romania, Bucharest; National Gallery of Art, Sofia, Bulgaria, 1982-1983, no. 55.

1987

  • Novye Gorizonty: Amerikanska i a zhivopis' 1840-1910, State Tretyakov Museum, Moscow; State Russian Museum, Leningrad; Minsk State Museum of Belorussiya; National Museum of Western and Oriental Art, Kiev, 1987-1988, no. 42.

1990

  • Landscaft im Licht: Impressionistiche Malerei in Europa und Nordamerika, 1860-1910, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, 1990, no. 158.

1992

  • Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, Musée Américain, Giverny, 1992, no. 8.

1993

  • Extended loan to for use by the Ambassador to France, U.S. Embassy residence, Paris, 1993-1997.

1999

  • American Impressionism: Selections from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Strathmore Hall Arts Center, North Bethesda, Maryland, 1999, unnumbered catalogue.

2003

  • The Impressionist Tradition in America, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2003-2004, unpublished checklist.

2004

  • In Monet's Light: Theodore Robinson at Giverny, Baltimore Museum of Art; Phoenix Art Museum; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, 2004-2005, no. 57.

2005

  • Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 58.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.

2009

  • American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June-18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013-28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

1905

  • "American Collections: The Collection of Mr. George A. Hearn." Collector and Art Critic 4, 2 (December 1905): 49.

1946

  • Baur, John I.H. Theodore Robinson, 1852-1896. Brooklyn, 1946: 79, no. 242.

1947

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art. Handbook of the American Paintings in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1947: 14, 58.

1973

  • Phillips, Dorothy W. A Catalogue of the Collection of American Paintings in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Vol. 2: Painters born from 1850 to 1910. Washington, 1973: 6, repro.

2011

  • Larkin, Susan G. "Theodore Robinson, The Valley of the Seine, from the Hills of Giverny." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 33, 176-177, 273, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20190353

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