Theodore Robinson

Theodore Robinson was one of the first American painters to adopt Impressionism. His landscapes of French villages, rivers and fields are painted in soft, light colour, often with a gentle, hazy atmosphere.

Born in Vermont, he studied in New York and then in Paris under Carolus-Duran and Jean-Léon Gérôme. In the late 1880s he spent long periods at Giverny, where he became a friend of Claude Monet. He later painted in Connecticut and New York State. He died in New York at 43. His work is in the Metropolitan Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Bird’s Eye View of Giverny shows his quiet, pale palette and careful structure.