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Robert William Vonnoh (September 17, 1858 – 28 December 1933) was an
His most well-known work ''In Flanders Field'' (also known as ''Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow'' or ''Coquelicots'') was painted in 1890 in the fields of Grez-sur-Loing. This large oil on canvas, 59 x 104 inches, employed active and expressive brushstrokes to evoke the fiery cadmium red of poppies, a subject matter that was popular during that time among many painters. A young woman crouches in the foreground, settling down to pick poppies in a vast field with two figures in the background. Although this was considered Vonnoh's most ambitious work, garnering great acclaim at fairs and exhibits, the painting never sold. It was not until 1919 when it was purchased directly by Joseph G. Butler, founder of The Butler Institute of American Art that ''In Flanders Field'' would find a permanent home. The painting is part of the permanent collection to this day in Youngstown, Ohio.
A retrospective exhibit of his works was displayed at Madron Gallery in Chicago and The Butler Institute, March 1 to April 9, 2010 and May 2 to June 27, 2010, respectively. The show included photographs of the artists' colony in Grez-sur-Loing along with accompanying images of the artist as well as a bronze relief made by his wife, the sculptor, Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872-1955). The show was curated by Yen Azzaro and a catalogue was written by Wendy Greenhouse, PhD. His paintings belong to collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago among many others. While Vonnoh never became a household name, he is cited for his experimental style within the world of American Impressionism.
''Robert Vonnoh: American Impressionist''.
Chicago: Madron Press, 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vonnoh, Robert 1858 births 1933 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters 20th-century American painters American Impressionist painters Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts faculty Académie Julian alumni National Academy of Design members Artists from Hartford, Connecticut Painters from Connecticut 20th-century American male artists
Robert William Vonnoh (September 17, 1858 – 28 December 1933) was an American Impressionist
American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose b ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
known for his portraits and landscapes. He traveled extensively between the American East Coast and France, more specifically the artists colony Grez-sur-Loing.
Biography
Robert William Vonnoh was born on 17 September 1858 inHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. He studied in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
at the Massachusetts Normal Art School
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...
now called Massachusetts College of Art and Design, then in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
at the Académie Julian under Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (25 April 1824 – 22 September 1888) was a French figurative painter and academic artist and teacher known for his Classical and Orientalist subjects.
Education and career The Néo-Grecs and the Prix de Rom ...
and Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist.
Early life
Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...
.
He taught at the Massachusetts Normal Art School
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...
(1879-1881),"Members of the School Faculty, 1873-1938," Fiftieth Anniversary Record, 1888-1938 (Boston: Massachusetts School of Art Alumni Association, 1938). p. 104 at the Cowles Art School in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
(1884–1885), at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1883–1887), and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1891–1896). Vonnoh became a member of the National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
in 1906.
His most well-known work ''In Flanders Field'' (also known as ''Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow'' or ''Coquelicots'') was painted in 1890 in the fields of Grez-sur-Loing. This large oil on canvas, 59 x 104 inches, employed active and expressive brushstrokes to evoke the fiery cadmium red of poppies, a subject matter that was popular during that time among many painters. A young woman crouches in the foreground, settling down to pick poppies in a vast field with two figures in the background. Although this was considered Vonnoh's most ambitious work, garnering great acclaim at fairs and exhibits, the painting never sold. It was not until 1919 when it was purchased directly by Joseph G. Butler, founder of The Butler Institute of American Art that ''In Flanders Field'' would find a permanent home. The painting is part of the permanent collection to this day in Youngstown, Ohio.
A retrospective exhibit of his works was displayed at Madron Gallery in Chicago and The Butler Institute, March 1 to April 9, 2010 and May 2 to June 27, 2010, respectively. The show included photographs of the artists' colony in Grez-sur-Loing along with accompanying images of the artist as well as a bronze relief made by his wife, the sculptor, Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872-1955). The show was curated by Yen Azzaro and a catalogue was written by Wendy Greenhouse, PhD. His paintings belong to collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago among many others. While Vonnoh never became a household name, he is cited for his experimental style within the world of American Impressionism.
Death
Vonnoh died on 28 December 1933 inNice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
and is buried alongside his wife in the Duck River Cemetery
The Duck River Cemetery, also known as the Old Lyme Cemetery is the communal burying ground of the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut. Slater, James A. The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut
and the Men Who Made Them. Memoirs of the Conne ...
in Old Lyme, Connecticut
Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The main street of the town, Lyme Street, is a historic district with several homes once owned by sea captains. Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is located in Old Lyme and ther ...
.
References
Further reading
* * Greenhouse, Wendy''Robert Vonnoh: American Impressionist''.
Chicago: Madron Press, 2010.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vonnoh, Robert 1858 births 1933 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters 20th-century American painters American Impressionist painters Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts faculty Académie Julian alumni National Academy of Design members Artists from Hartford, Connecticut Painters from Connecticut 20th-century American male artists