Spring in France

Robert Vonnoh was among the first American painters to explore Impressionism. He received his formative artistic training in Boston and headed to Paris in the early 1880s for further instruction. By the late 1880s, Vonnoh had settled in Grez-sur-Loing, a rural area outside of Paris that attracted a growing colony of artists who worked outdoors. Here, using a brilliant palette, broken brushstrokes, and unblended colors, Vonnoh captured the budding vegetation and warming sunlight of a spring day. Intense greens, peaches, and lavenders convey the dappled light and shadows of a winding road at right. The fence posts marking the edge of the yard and white linens hanging from a nearby tree highlight the scene’s domestic setting.