Keywords: American Impressionist, Portrait, Figure Study, Child Subject, Tonalist Palette, Dark Interior, Early 20th Century, Academy Julian, Pennsylvania Academy, Framed Artwork

Authentometer™: A9*

Summary:
Robert Vonnoh, Oil on canvas painting unsigned and therefore attributed depicting a young girl standing against a dark interior background.

Prov. Millon Paris

Vonnoh studied French Impressionism and was impressed by Claude Monet, whose influence can be seen in his works of colorful landscapes and bright flowers. His painting at this time also demonstrates the dichotomy of many American Impressionists.

Some of his works are almost Fauvist, with raw brilliant colors and paint laid on with wide brushes or palette knife, as in his painting Poppies in 1888. Other works from about the same time are done almost entirely in neutral tones, as in "Companion of the Studio", a solid three-dimensional portrait of John C. Pinhey, who was a fellow student at the Julian Academy.

Vonnoh's gradual change towards Impressionism seems to have been influenced by his friendship with the Irish artist Roderick O'Conor, who also was painting in Grez in the 1880s and used unmixed hues and thick impasto in his bright landscapes. Towards the end of the decade, O'Conor had become associated with Van Gogh, and after 1890 he left Grez to go to Pont-Aven, where he painted with the group around Gauguin.

Vonnoh's works in Grez explored light and color in a variety of seasons. His paint was often broadly applied and unmixed, and he liked to use pure color and higher key, juxtaposing the violets, lavenders, and purples of Impressionism. In 1891, he was back in Boston, converted to Impressionism, and later that year he held a one man show at the Williams and Everett Gallery which included many of the paintings he had done in France.

Vonnoh returned to Pennsylvania in 1891 to teach at the Academy of the Fine Arts, where he continued his enthusiasm for French impressionism. He maintained a commitment to academics, but also encouraged an Impressionistic aesthetic. At the Pennsylvania Academy he taught portraiture, where his instruction was very popular. Among his students there were Robert Henri, William Glackens, and Maxfield Parrish. He divided his time between teaching and painting, especially portraits, although he did landscapes as well.

Measurement: Art: 22 x 18 in. (55.9 x 45.7 cm.) approx

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