From the Hill, Giverny

The rural village of Giverny, in Normandy, France, appears sheltered in a fold of land under the midday glare in Theodore Robinson’s From the Hill, Giverny. Although the scene is partly obscured from view by trees, the particular spot from which Robinson painted this scene is clear from the presence at left of a familiar structure: the mairie, or town hall, with its salmon-colored walls, which appears in Robinson’s important painting The Wedding March (TF 1999.127) also in the Terra Foundation collection. Near the center of the composition, a red roof boasting what appears to be a large skylight may indicate an artist’s studio located in the gardens behind the Hôtel Baudy. Such specific details imbue this view of Giverny, which seems to conceal as much as it reveals of the village’s appearance, with an intimate sense of place in keeping with the impressionist emphasis on immediate, local experience.

Robinson lived in Giverny for much of the time between 1887 and 1892. From the Hill, Giverny is one of several paintings in which he explored the town and the surrounding Seine River Valley from a high vantage point, in various conditions of light and weather; two others, Winter Landscape (TF 1999.128) of 1889 and Etude pour “Vallée de la Seine vue des hauteurs de Giverny” (TF 1992.9) of 1892, are also in the Terra Foundation collection. These panoramic compositions present the landscape as a series of receding horizontal and diagonal planes punctuated by the flat, angular slabs of village roofs. In From the Hill, Giverny, two parallel ridges enfold the village, creating a sense of shelter while isolating it from view.

Paintings by Emil Carlson, Theodore Robinson, J. Alden Weir, MacBeth Gallery, New York, 1923, no. 6.

Watercolors and Paintings by American Artists, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, 1927, no. 19.

Paintings, Watercolors, Etchings by American Artists, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, 1929, no. 34.

Paintings by American Masters, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, 1929, no. 16.

Paintings by American Impressions and Artists of the Period, 1880–1900, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, January 18-February 20, 1932, no. 75. [exh. cat.]

Well Known American Artists, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, 1937, no. 5.

Theodore Robinson, 1852–1896, Macbeth Gallery, New York, New York, April 19–May 8, 1943, no. 7 (as Giverny).

Paintings by American Artists, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, 1946, no. 8.

Theodore Robinson, 1852–1896, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, November 12, 1946-January 5, 1947. [exh. cat.]

Lawyers Collect, M. Knoedler & Company, New York, New York, 1965, no. 54.

Summer Exhibition: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from Private Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, 1966, no. 159.

Summer Loan Exhibition: Paintings from Private Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, 1967, no. 92.

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From Camera to Canvas: Theodore Robinson's French Photographs and Paintings, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 24–July 1, 1990.

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; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]

Giverny: une impression américaine (Giverny, An American Impression), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 1, 1998.

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999. [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.

Permanent collection installation, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2001.

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).

En Plein Air: American Painters in Giverny, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 8–May 25, 2003.

In Monet's Light: Theodore Robinson at Giverny, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland (organizer). Venues: Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, October 17, 2004–January 9, 2005; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, February 4–May 8, 2005; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, June 4–September 4, 2005. [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.]

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.]

The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]

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Regard sur cinq années d'expositions (Five Years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Text p. 42.

Joyes, Claire. The Taste of Giverny: At Home with Monet and the American Impressionists. Paris, France: Flammarion, 2000. Ill. p. 14 (color).

Impressionismus: Amerika-Frankreich-Russland. (exh. cat., Kunstforum Wien). Vienna, Austria: Kunstforum Wien, 2002. Text p. 18; pl. 9, p.18 (color).

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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. pp. 152, 210 (checklist); cat. p. 96 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. "Impressionist Giverny: American Painters in France" American Art Review 20.3 (June 2008): 100–113.  Ill. p. 111 (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. 29, p. 79 (in Japanese), 183 (in English); ill. 79 (color).

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). Text pp. 31, 40; ill. p. 78 (color).

 Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020.  Text p. 28; Pl. 61, p. 135 (color).