Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina
Robert William Vonnoh was an American impressionist painter. He attended the Massachusetts Normal Art School (now called Massachusetts College of Art and Design) in Boston. Later he attended the Académie Julian in Paris. Vonnoh was married to an American sculptor named Bessie Potter Vonnoh. They often exhibited together. Vonnoh spent his time traveling between the American East Coast and France. He was among the first American artists to embrace impressionism.
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that began in Paris. Impressionist artists used quick, loose brushstrokes and bright paint colors to create outdoor scenes. They often depicted different weather conditions, the movement of water, and the effects of sunlight at different times of day. Vonnoh adopted the practice of plein air painting, a French term that means “in the open air.”
Vonnoh painted Winter Sun and Shadow while he was living in France. There he lived in an artist colony in Grez-sur-Loing, near the Forest of Fontainebleau. In this painting Vonnoh contrasts bright sunlight with pale, icy shadows. This work is an example of his study of weather and lighting effects.
tags: weather, snow, seasons
Resources for Teachers
Resources for Students
