Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Washington, D.C.
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Theodore Earl Butler
(American, 1860–1936)
Lili Butler Reading at the Butler House, Giverny
1908
Oil on canvas
Image: 28 7/8 x 23 1/2 in. (73.3 x 59.7 cm)
Frame: 37 5/8 x 32 1/8 in. (95.6 x 81.6 cm)
Frame: 37 5/8 x 32 1/8 in. (95.6 x 81.6 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1993.8
SignedLower right: T.E. Butler '08
InterpretationLili Butler Reading at the Butler House, Giverny pictures the artist’s daughter absorbed in a book in a quiet domestic interior. With her long dark hair hanging down her back in a thick braid, the girl reads intently as she leans forward from her armchair, her feet propped on the stretcher of the wheeled table set before a decorative fireplace that dominates the background. The richly patterned, deeply colored rug at her feet echoes the diamond-pane floor tiles it partly covers. The bowl of flowers on the table, mimicked by the gay design on the tablecloth, and the closed door just visible in the right background contribute to the cozy serenity of the comfortable scene, flooded with light from an unseen window on the left.
Butler painted this work in his home in the rural village of Giverny, in Normandy, France. He first visited there in 1888, drawn in part by the presence of French painter Claude Monet (1840–1926). With his marriage to one of Monet’s stepdaughters, Suzanne Hoschedé, in 1892, Butler became the village’s most permanent American expatriate resident. Following the arrival of their two children, James and Alice (named for her French grandmother but called Lili), the family moved out of the small house adjacent to Monet’s property and into another home in Giverny, a house commissioned by Butler. Lili was about fourteen years old when she posed there for Lili Butler Reading at the Butler House, Giverny.
Under Monet’s influence, Butler was a convert to the divided brushstrokes and bright color of the mode known as impressionism, but he also found inspiration in post-impressionst techniques. Beginning with the births of his children, he focused on interior, domestic subjects. He shared an interest in them with members of a French avant-garde artists’ group known as Les Nabis (“the prophets”), whose work, characterized by expressive color and decorative patterning, he knew through Paris dealer Ambroise Vollard, with whom he exhibited in the mid- and late 1890s. With its lively, haphazard assortment of figured surfaces, including the tablecloth, the girl’s dress, and the varied floor coverings, Lili Butler Reading at the Butler House, Giverny recalls the often conflicting patterns that dominate the private interiors pictured by Nabis artist Edouard Vuillard (1868–1940), interpreted here through the cheerful lens of a contented family man. Consistent with the work of many contemporary American painters, Butler used the buoyant color and brushwork of impressionism to underscore the material comfort and warm conviviality of his personal circumstances. The conceit of a family member reading, seemingly unaware of the viewer and thus unposed, was a particularly popular one, as seen in such other examples as Thomas Sergeant Perry Reading a Newspaper (TF1987.27) by Lilla Cabot Perry, who also lived and worked in Giverny at the turn of the last century.
Butler painted this work in his home in the rural village of Giverny, in Normandy, France. He first visited there in 1888, drawn in part by the presence of French painter Claude Monet (1840–1926). With his marriage to one of Monet’s stepdaughters, Suzanne Hoschedé, in 1892, Butler became the village’s most permanent American expatriate resident. Following the arrival of their two children, James and Alice (named for her French grandmother but called Lili), the family moved out of the small house adjacent to Monet’s property and into another home in Giverny, a house commissioned by Butler. Lili was about fourteen years old when she posed there for Lili Butler Reading at the Butler House, Giverny.
Under Monet’s influence, Butler was a convert to the divided brushstrokes and bright color of the mode known as impressionism, but he also found inspiration in post-impressionst techniques. Beginning with the births of his children, he focused on interior, domestic subjects. He shared an interest in them with members of a French avant-garde artists’ group known as Les Nabis (“the prophets”), whose work, characterized by expressive color and decorative patterning, he knew through Paris dealer Ambroise Vollard, with whom he exhibited in the mid- and late 1890s. With its lively, haphazard assortment of figured surfaces, including the tablecloth, the girl’s dress, and the varied floor coverings, Lili Butler Reading at the Butler House, Giverny recalls the often conflicting patterns that dominate the private interiors pictured by Nabis artist Edouard Vuillard (1868–1940), interpreted here through the cheerful lens of a contented family man. Consistent with the work of many contemporary American painters, Butler used the buoyant color and brushwork of impressionism to underscore the material comfort and warm conviviality of his personal circumstances. The conceit of a family member reading, seemingly unaware of the viewer and thus unposed, was a particularly popular one, as seen in such other examples as Thomas Sergeant Perry Reading a Newspaper (TF1987.27) by Lilla Cabot Perry, who also lived and worked in Giverny at the turn of the last century.
Washington, D.C.
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Exhibition History
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, April 1–October 31, 1993; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]
Giverny: intérieurs, extérieurs (Giverny: Inside and Out), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002 (on exhibit extended run: March 30–November 30, 2002).
Giverny en fleurs (Giverny in Bloom), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2–November 30, 2003.
Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004. [exh. cat.]
Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940 (Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France and Miedzynarodowe Centrum Kultury (International Cultural Center), Crakow, Poland (organizers). Venue: International Cultural Center, Crakow, Poland, February 15–May 7, 2006. [exh. cat.]
Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2007; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 21–October 14, 2007. [exh. cat.]
Impressionist Giverny: The Americans, 1885-1915, Selections from the Terra Foundation for American Art, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Florence Griswold Museum of Art, Old Lyme, Connecticut, May 3–July 27, 2008; Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, August 23, 2008–January 4, 2009.
Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan with the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan, October 9–November 28, 2010; The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2010–February 17, 2011; The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan, February 25–April 10, 2011. [exh. cat.]
Giverny: intérieurs, extérieurs (Giverny: Inside and Out), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002 (on exhibit extended run: March 30–November 30, 2002).
Giverny en fleurs (Giverny in Bloom), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2–November 30, 2003.
Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004. [exh. cat.]
Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940 (Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France and Miedzynarodowe Centrum Kultury (International Cultural Center), Crakow, Poland (organizers). Venue: International Cultural Center, Crakow, Poland, February 15–May 7, 2006. [exh. cat.]
Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2007; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 21–October 14, 2007. [exh. cat.]
Impressionist Giverny: The Americans, 1885-1915, Selections from the Terra Foundation for American Art, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Florence Griswold Museum of Art, Old Lyme, Connecticut, May 3–July 27, 2008; Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, August 23, 2008–January 4, 2009.
Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan with the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan, October 9–November 28, 2010; The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2010–February 17, 2011; The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan, February 25–April 10, 2011. [exh. cat.]
Joyes, Claire. The Taste of Giverny: At Home with Monet and the American Impressionists. Paris, France: Flammarion, 2000. Ill. p. 64 (color).
Lévy, Sophie, et al. Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940/Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940. (exh. cat. International Cultural Center). Cracow, Poland: International Cultural Center, 2006. Ill. p. 103 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. et al. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. Text p. 204 (checklist); cat. p. 144 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., Shunsuke Kijima and Sanjiro Minamikawa. Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism. (exh. cat. Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, and The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art). Fukuoka, Japan: The Nishinippon Shimbun, 2010. Text cat. no. 61, pp. 117 (in Japanese), 1885 (in English); ill. p. 117 (color).
Lévy, Sophie, et al. Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940/Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940. (exh. cat. International Cultural Center). Cracow, Poland: International Cultural Center, 2006. Ill. p. 103 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. et al. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. Text p. 204 (checklist); cat. p. 144 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., Shunsuke Kijima and Sanjiro Minamikawa. Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism. (exh. cat. Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, and The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art). Fukuoka, Japan: The Nishinippon Shimbun, 2010. Text cat. no. 61, pp. 117 (in Japanese), 1885 (in English); ill. p. 117 (color).