La Sieste (The Rest)

A large haystack dwarfs a bent woman gathering grain, while a man and his dog rest in its shadow in La Sieste (The Rest). Painter Robert Vonnoh used short, choppy strokes of bright color to capture the farm scene at midday in strong, diffused sunlight. This painting, made on a small sturdy wood panel, functioned as a pochade, or pocket sketch. The portable format enabled the artist to paint directly from his subject rather than in the studio from drawings made on-site, according to traditional practice. Vonnoh’s addition of his signature and date indicate that he considered the painting a legitimate finished work of art. His direct working method reflects his concern for recording the effects of natural light on-site as much as for interpreting his ostensible agricultural theme. Grainstacks and rural European laborers were, however, subjects very much in vogue among contemporary painters from both sides of the Atlantic.

Vonnoh painted La Sieste (The Rest) in Grez-sur-Loing, the French rural village near Paris that eventually became his permanent home. He had first arrived there with his bride, Grace D. Farrell of Boston, in 1886, on his second trip to France. A promising painter of figures and portraits, Vonnoh went to Grez to work on landscape painting, a subject then not taught in academic schools. The village had recently begun to attract British, American, and Scandinavian as well as French painters not only for its quaint architecture and the gloomy beauty of the nearby Forest of Fontainebleau (long an artists’ haunt), but also for the even, diffused quality of light during the area’s frequent overcast days, as pictured in this work.

Among the influences Vonnoh absorbed during this first stay in Grez was that of impressionism, a current trend toward painting outdoor light effects in pure, bright colors and divided brushstrokes. Within a year of painting La Sieste (The Rest), Vonnoh would begin to experiment with the illusion-dissolving effect of composing and painting the landscape as a pattern of spots of pure color, as demonstrated by his Poppies in France (TF 1987.9). With its use of blended colors and shadows, however, La Sieste (The Rest) testifies to the artist’s solid grounding in the more traditional academic technique.

Paintings by Robert W. Vonnoh, William & Everett Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, November 9–21, 1891, no. 42.

Special Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1892, no. 42.

Grez Days: Robert Vonnoh in France, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, May 6–June 19, 1987. [exh. cat.]

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988.

American Painters in France, 1830–1930, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 14–September 3, 1989. [exh. cat.]

Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1–October 31, 1993. [exh. cat.]

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]

The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]

Studied Abroad: Painted Impressions from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 6, 2003–April 4, 2004.

Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 31, 2005. [exh. brochure]

Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 29, 2006. [exh. brochure]

Hill, May Brawley. "The Early Career of Robert William Vonnoh." The Magazine Antiques 130:5 (November 1986): 1017. Plate III.

Hill, May Brawley. Grez Days: Robert Vonnoh in France. (exh. cat., Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.). New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1987. Text pp. 11, 44 (checklist); pl. I, p. 11 (color).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-125, p. 234 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 200; pl. 43, p. 201 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 200; pl. 43, p. 201 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 27 (checklist); ill. p. 51 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 27 (checklist); ill. p. 51 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick. "The City and Country: American Perspectives 1870–1920." American Art Review 7:1 (January–February 2000): 100–11. Ill. p. 101 (color).