Notre Dame de Paris

c. 1890

Robert William Vonnoh

Associated Names
Robert William Vonnoh

Painter, American, 1858 - 1933

This painting depicts a riverbank over which a stone bridge stretches. In the distance, Notre-Dame cathedral is visible in the center of the painting. The cathedral's silhouette stands out against the soft gray and blue sky. It is painted in shades of gray, with some hints of seafoam green and rosy pink. Closest to us, on the bottom left, is a group of people standing by a staircase that leads up to the stone bridge. A cart and horse are nearby on the right, standing by the edge of the water. The bridge is filled with a crowd of figures, including people, horses, and carts. The people in the painting are suggested with small dots and dashes of paint and have little detail. Trees in shades of green, red, and yellow ochre line the street at the opposite side of the bridge. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and fluid, giving the scene a hazy look.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1858-1933], New York; his estate; his wife, Bessie Potter Vonnoh Keyes [1872-1955], New York; bequest 1955 to Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1987

  • Grez Days: Robert Vonnoh in France, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, 6 May - 19 June 1987.

1994

  • Loan to display in the Ambassador's residence, U.S. Embassy, Paris, 22 January 1994 - 2 July 1997.

1999

  • American Impressionism: Selections from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Strathmore Hall Arts Center, North Bethesda, Maryland, 11 September - 8 November 1999, unnumbered catalogue.

2003

  • The Impressionist Tradition in America, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 19 July 2003 - 18 October 2004, unpublished checklist.

2007

  • Impressions: Americans in France, 1860-1930, Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 18 January - 13 May 2007, no. 44, repro.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

1966

  • Phillips, Dorothy W. A Catalogue of the Collection of American Paintings in The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Vol. 1: Painters born before 1850. Washington, 1966: 35.

2011

  • Cash, Sarah, ed. Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Washington, 2011: 322, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Vonnoh -

Wikidata ID

Q46631717

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