Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Private collection
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1987
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Robert Vonnoh
(American, 1858–1933)
Poppies in France
1888
Oil on canvas
Image: 12 1/8 × 20 1/8 in. (30.8 × 51.1 cm)
Frame: 18 3/8 × 26 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (46.7 × 67.3 × 8.9 cm)
Frame: 18 3/8 × 26 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (46.7 × 67.3 × 8.9 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1987.9
SignedLower left: Vonnoh 1888
InterpretationA field of poppies in strong midday light almost fills the canvas in Robert Vonnoh’s Poppies in France. Blossoms, stalks, and leaves are rendered in choppy, quickly laid down strokes of pure color, creating a vibrant, textured surface in which the illusion of perspective is virtually dissolved. The field of poppies extends nearly to the top of the image, where a row of farm buildings, trees, and the bright sky are crowded on the high horizon line.
The painting’s rough, broken brushstrokes, undiluted color, and tipped-up perspective all are hallmarks of the late nineteenth-century artistic movement known as impressionism. Vonnoh was acquainted with the works of its leading practitioners when he made his second visit to France, beginning in 1887. Poppies in France, painted in the rural village of Grez-sur-Loing, not far from Paris, signaled the artist’s embrace of the new approach in his landscape painting and his abandonment of the mixed, toned-down color and muddy shadows he used the previous year in another painting made in Grez, La Sieste (The Rest) (TF 1992.139). However, for Vonnoh as for many of his American contemporaries, impressionism was a mode reserved for such pure landscape subjects as that depicted in Poppies in France, while the portrayal of the human figure demanded the careful drawing and blended painting technique absorbed in art academies.
The brilliant colors of the poppy field made it a compelling vehicle for Vonnoh’s experimentation with pure color and spontaneous paint application. In addition, the subject was a current one among such impressionist painters as French artist Claude Monet (1840–1926) and Theodore Robinson, an American pioneer of impressionism. Vonnoh’s paintings of poppy fields reveal the particular influence of Irish painter Roderic O’Conor (1860–1940), who was working in Grez in an advanced impressionist style at the time Vonnoh began his turn toward the new mode.
Poppies in France is among the most fully impressionist of the studies Vonnoh made in Grez of poppy fields. These paintings, undoubtedly made on the spot, served as studies for his most important work to date: his Coquelicots (now also titled In Flanders Field) of 1890 (Butler Institute of American Art). In this large, studio-painted canvas designed to stand up to competition in large exhibitions, Vonnoh took a more conservative approach in the modeling of the figures and in the suggestion of spatial recession. In contrast, Poppies in France, with its relatively more radical style, has earned Vonnoh recognition as one of the most advanced American practitioners of impressionism in the late 1880s.
The painting’s rough, broken brushstrokes, undiluted color, and tipped-up perspective all are hallmarks of the late nineteenth-century artistic movement known as impressionism. Vonnoh was acquainted with the works of its leading practitioners when he made his second visit to France, beginning in 1887. Poppies in France, painted in the rural village of Grez-sur-Loing, not far from Paris, signaled the artist’s embrace of the new approach in his landscape painting and his abandonment of the mixed, toned-down color and muddy shadows he used the previous year in another painting made in Grez, La Sieste (The Rest) (TF 1992.139). However, for Vonnoh as for many of his American contemporaries, impressionism was a mode reserved for such pure landscape subjects as that depicted in Poppies in France, while the portrayal of the human figure demanded the careful drawing and blended painting technique absorbed in art academies.
The brilliant colors of the poppy field made it a compelling vehicle for Vonnoh’s experimentation with pure color and spontaneous paint application. In addition, the subject was a current one among such impressionist painters as French artist Claude Monet (1840–1926) and Theodore Robinson, an American pioneer of impressionism. Vonnoh’s paintings of poppy fields reveal the particular influence of Irish painter Roderic O’Conor (1860–1940), who was working in Grez in an advanced impressionist style at the time Vonnoh began his turn toward the new mode.
Poppies in France is among the most fully impressionist of the studies Vonnoh made in Grez of poppy fields. These paintings, undoubtedly made on the spot, served as studies for his most important work to date: his Coquelicots (now also titled In Flanders Field) of 1890 (Butler Institute of American Art). In this large, studio-painted canvas designed to stand up to competition in large exhibitions, Vonnoh took a more conservative approach in the modeling of the figures and in the suggestion of spatial recession. In contrast, Poppies in France, with its relatively more radical style, has earned Vonnoh recognition as one of the most advanced American practitioners of impressionism in the late 1880s.
Private collection
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1987
Exhibition History
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.]
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.
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; 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.
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.
The French Experience: American Artists at Giverny, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 27–October 20, 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.
The Ties that Bind (Les liens qui nous unissent), ART in Embassies Program, United States Department of State, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venue: U.S. Embassy Paris, France, December 2005–August 2007. [exh. cat.]
The American Impressionists in the Garden, Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee (organiser). Venues: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, March 13–September 6, 2010; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, September 24, 2010–January 3, 2011; Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, February 18–May 15, 2011. [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]
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.
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; 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.
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.
The French Experience: American Artists at Giverny, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 27–October 20, 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.
The Ties that Bind (Les liens qui nous unissent), ART in Embassies Program, United States Department of State, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venue: U.S. Embassy Paris, France, December 2005–August 2007. [exh. cat.]
The American Impressionists in the Garden, Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee (organiser). Venues: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, March 13–September 6, 2010; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, September 24, 2010–January 3, 2011; Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, February 18–May 15, 2011. [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]
Hill, May Brawley. Grez Days: Robert Vonnoh in France. (exh. cat., Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.). New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1987. Text pp. 12, 44 (checklist); pl. II, p. 12 (color).
Broude, Norma, ed. World Impressionism: The International Movement, 1860–1920. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990. Text p. 56; pl. 56, p. 55 (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. 66, 200; pl. 44, p. 202 (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 pp. 66, 200; pl. 44, p. 202 (color).
The Painters in Grez-sur-Loing. (exh. cat., Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan). Japan: The Japan Association of Art Museums, 2000. Ill. p. 134 (color).
The Ties that Bind (Les liens qui nous unissent). (exh. cat. U.S. Embassy Paris, France). Washington, D.C.: ART in Embassies Program, U.S. Department of State, May 2006. Text p. 51; ill. p. 53 (color).
Hill, May Brawley. The American Impressionists in the Garden. (ex. cat., Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tenessee). Nashville: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art and Vanderbilt University Press, 2010. Text pp. 9, 121 (checklist); ill. pl. 10, pp. 48–49 (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. Pl. 58, p. 132 (color).
Broude, Norma, ed. World Impressionism: The International Movement, 1860–1920. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990. Text p. 56; pl. 56, p. 55 (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. 66, 200; pl. 44, p. 202 (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 pp. 66, 200; pl. 44, p. 202 (color).
The Painters in Grez-sur-Loing. (exh. cat., Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan). Japan: The Japan Association of Art Museums, 2000. Ill. p. 134 (color).
The Ties that Bind (Les liens qui nous unissent). (exh. cat. U.S. Embassy Paris, France). Washington, D.C.: ART in Embassies Program, U.S. Department of State, May 2006. Text p. 51; ill. p. 53 (color).
Hill, May Brawley. The American Impressionists in the Garden. (ex. cat., Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tenessee). Nashville: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art and Vanderbilt University Press, 2010. Text pp. 9, 121 (checklist); ill. pl. 10, pp. 48–49 (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. Pl. 58, p. 132 (color).