Normandy Farm

A Vermont Yankee by way of Wisconsin, Theodore Robinson was among the few American artists gathered at Giverny who enjoyed a close personal relationship with Claude Monet. Academically trained, Robinson lived in the small French village for four years (1888-92), during which time he achieved a style that combined a faithfulness to formal concerns with elements of Impressionist style. >II< captures the artist at the height of his powers, when his Impressionist style was at its freest and most spontaneous. Painted with short, precise strokes of green, white, and pink pigment, the work is filled with light and color that vividly evoke the effect of wind rustling through the branches of the dense bush in the foreground. Though he would only live to age 43, Robinson became one of the pioneers in the evolution of American Impressionism.