A Normandy Mill
1892
Robinson befriended French painter Claude Monet in Giverny, France, and like Monet, painted in a loose, impressionistic manner. Robinson’s paintings are characteristically soft in their light effects and mood. Watercolor allowed him to work in mediums that functioned as pure pigment, like pastel crayons. In this instance, he used thin washes on tinted paper to achieve the effect of moonlight reflected off the broad side of the white mill, which illuminates the surrounding landscape. The artist’s “squared” areas of the drawing—note the pencil grid—were intentional, so that he could enlarge it in oil.
Watercolor on gray academy board
9 7/8 x 15 in. (25.1 x 38.1 cm)
Gift of Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz
2007.84
Provenance: An English collection; [Bernard Black Gallery, New York], by 1968; sold to donors, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz, New York, 1968
Photo: Susan Cole