Figural
THEODORE ROBINSON (1852–1896)
The Layette, about 1891–92
Oil on canvas, 23 x 15 in.
Signed (at lower right): Th. Robinson
RECORDED: Theodore Robinson, Diary entry, August 10, 1892, Theodore Robinson Diaries, March 1892–March 1896, Frick Art Research Library, New York // Eliot C. Clark, Theodore Robinson: His Life and Art (Chicago: R. H. Love Galleries, 1979), p. 27, plate 1 illus. in color as “Girl Sewing” // Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, “American Impressionist Paintings in the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. John J. McDonough,” The Magazine Antiques 128 (November 1985), pp. 1005 plate 2 illus. in color, 1008
EXHIBITED: Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, Massachusetts, American Impressionist Painting, January 28–March 5, 1978, as “Girl Sewing” // Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 5–August 8, 1982, and traveling, 1982–83, Directions in American Painting 1875–1925: Works from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. John J. McDonough, p. 70, 71 illus. in color // Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, April 29–July 29, 1984, The Shock of Modernism in America: The Eight and Artists of the Armory Show, p. 11 fig. 12 illus.
EX COLL.: the artist; Arthur Welland Blake, Brookline, Massachusetts (1840–1893); to Beatrice Blake Nickerson, by descent; to Henry Nickerson, Dedham, Massachusetts, by descent; to sale, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, October 27, 1977, sale 4038, no. 45; [Steven Straw Company, Inc., Newburyport, Massachusetts]; to Dr. and Mrs. John J. McDonough, Youngstown, Ohio; [Jordan-Volpe Gallery, New York]; to private collection, Maryland, 1995 until the present
Executed about 1891 or 1892, the present canvas is one of a series of paintings that served as preludes to The Layette (1892), a formal exhibition piece now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The National Gallery of Art’s oil, which measures 58 1/8 x 36 1/4 in., was formerly owned by the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
While his landscapes were executed outdoors, Robinson sometimes relied on photographs in organizing his figural compositions, as he did with respect to The Layette, which is based on several photographic images, among them a cyanotype now in the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art in Chicago. This practice is not surprising, since Robinson began taking pictures of his models during the early 1880s. He continued to use photographs as reference sources when composing a figure subject, after which––in keeping with impressionist strategies––he would complete the landscape elements in the open air.
In The Layette, the influence of photography is evident in Robinson’s close cropping of the design, which imbues the image with Impressionism’s sense of immediacy. At the same time, Robinson was also attracted to the soft, blurry quality of the photographic image, which went hand in hand with the indistinct forms associated with impressionist painting. In The Layette, he creates that same effect by employing broad, loosely applied strokes of pigment to render the sun-dappled setting, giving us the sense of a fleeting moment in time. By contrast, he adheres to a much more controlled technique in rendering the sitter, expertly capturing her pleasing profile and simple garb (especially the sweeping folds of her skirt), as well as the geometric configuration of the slatted chair. His palette––bright but never strident––features an appealing medley of greens, yellows, reds, and white which effectively capture the gentle luminosity of a summer’s day in Normandy. This intimate garden scene likewise exemplifies that appealing balance of Impressionism and academic realism that Robinson achieved, especially during his last two years in Giverny, when he produced the most important works of his career.
