Canal Scene

Canal Scene is among the first paintings executed by Theodore Robinson after his return to America in 1892 from a four-year period of working in Giverny, France. The move brought little relief to the artist’s ever-precarious finances. In July of 1893 he reluctantly agreed to teach a summer painting class at Napanoch, New York, for students of the Brooklyn Art School. Robinson’s four months in Napanoch yielded several paintings of scenes along the Delaware and Hudson Canal that demonstrate the full maturing of his impressionist aesthetic during his years abroad.

After his return from France, Robinson was determined to paint American settings with the intimate scrutiny with which he had depicted Giverny. Like his images of the French rural village, his portrayals of New England’s coast and countryside dwell on the harmonious relationship between man and land. In Naponoch, Robinson portrayed the canal as a benign intrusion of industry and human activity into nature; three hatted men near the center of the composition blend almost to invisibility with their surroundings. The artist used impressionist bright color and broken brushwork to evoke the spirit of freshness and optimism that many Americans identified with their country. With its deep recession into space and panoramic view of the distant hills, Canal Scene also retains the strong sense of dramatic spatial illusion that characterizes the American landscape tradition.

An Exhibition of 150 Years of American Painting for the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Great Neck Public Schools, Great Neck Public Schools, Great Neck, New York, 1965, no. 24.

Theodore Robinson 1852–1896, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland (organizer). Venues: Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, May 1–June 10, 1973; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, July 12–August 26, 1973; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, September 19–October 28, 1973; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, November 19–December 23, 1973; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, January 20–February 24, 1974. [exh. cat.]

American Impressionism, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (organizer). Venues: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, January 3–March 2, 1980; The Frederick S. Wight Gallery, University of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 9–May 4, 1980; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, May 16–June 22, 1980; The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, July 1–August 31, 1980. [exh. cat.]

Loan, Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, mid-June–July 1981.

Loan, The White House, Washington, D.C., August 1981–April 1984.

Selections from the Permanent Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, July 19–September 14, 1985.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 6–29, 1987.

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.

Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer).  Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 11–October 31, 1997.

Première exposition: les carnets de dessins et les photographies de Theodore Robinson (First Exposure: The Sketchbooks and Photographs of Theodore Robinson), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 14–December 31, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–July 1, 2001.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.

Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 2005–March 2014

American Impressionism: a New Vision, 1880–1900 (L'Impressionnisme et les Américains/ Impresionismo Americano (French & Spanish titles), Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France and the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizers). Venues: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, March 28–June 29, 2014; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, July 19–October 19, 2014; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, November 4, 2014–February 1, 2015. [exh. cat.]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection," The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, May 2015–October 2017.

Taft, Dorado. "American Pictures in Paris." Chicago Record 12 (July 1900): 113. Text p. 113.

Baur, John I. H. Theodore Robinson 1853–1896. (exh. cat., The Brooklyn Museum). Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1946. Cat. no. 35, p. 59 (as Canal Scene, Autumn).

Johnston, Sona. Theodore Robinson 1852–1896. (exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art). Baltimore, Maryland: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1973. Text no. 52, pp. 52–53; ill. no. 52, p. 52 (black & white).

The Magazine Antiques 107 (January 1975): 29. Ill. p. 29 (color).

Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. (exh. cat., Henry Art Gallery). Seattle, Washington: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, 1980. Text p. 138 (checklist); ill. p. 52 (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-80, p. 189 (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 pp. 54–55; fig. 48, p. 55 (black & white).

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 pp. 54–55; fig. 48, p. 55 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. American Impressionism: A New Vision 1880-1900. (exh. cat., Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, National Galleries of Scotland, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2014. (English, French and Spanish versions). Ill. p. 101 (color).