Theodore Earl Butler (American, 1861-1936). Grainstacks in plaine des Ajoux, Giverny, circa 1897. Oil on canvas. 21 x 28...

Description

Theodore Earl Butler (American, 1861-1936)
Grainstacks in plaine des Ajoux, Giverny, circa 1897
Oil on canvas
21 x 28-1/2 inches (53.3 x 72.4 cm)

PROVENANCE:
The artist;
Estate of the above;
By descent through the artist's family;
Patrick Bertrand, Oakland, California, acquired from the above, 1997;
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1999.

Theodore Earl Butler's relationship with Claude Monet was both deeply personal and profoundly reverent. The two were united not only by their shared artistic pursuits but also by family ties-in 1892, Butler married Monet's stepdaughter, Suzanne Hoschedé. Through this union, Butler became part of Monet's immediate circle, frequently spending time at the family's estate in Giverny. This close proximity made Butler one of the few American painters to experience Impressionism directly at its source, and the personal bond he shared with Monet endured for decades.

Butler adopted Monet's fascination with natural light, often painting the same gardens, meadows, and riverbanks that the elder artist had immortalized. Like Monet, he explored the changing effects of light and season, favoring color harmony over precise form. His 1896 solo exhibition at the prestigious Galerie Vollard in Paris cemented Butler's reputation as one of the foremost American Impressionists, and Grainstacks in plaine des Ajoux, Giverny, completed around 1897, exemplifies this mature phase. The work marks a clear departure from Butler's earlier, more tonal style, and by the late 1890s, following his immersion in the Giverny artist community, his palette became radiant with saturated hues. His exhibited paintings were praised for their "high-key color, scintillating surfaces, forms outlined in yellow and acid green, a harmonious balancing of texture and plane, and complexity of design, subtly disguised in a simplistic pictorial ensemble" (R.H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, Theodore Earl Butler: Emergence from Monet's Shadow, exhibition catalogue, 1985, n.p.).

Grainstacks in plaine des Ajoux, Giverny stands as Butler's clearest homage to Monet's legacy, for in this composition he adopts one of the most recognizable motifs in Monet's oeuvre-the haystacks of Giverny. Butler's interpretation of the subject is exuberant and unrestrained, his brushwork energetic and expressive. The composition follows the familiar design of Monet's series, presenting a serene French pasture punctuated by the abstracted, rising forms of haystacks whose fibrous surfaces diffuse the light into radiant color. Yet Butler's treatment retains a distinctly youthful immediacy. The foreground bursts with dynamic, crosshatched strokes in pastel hues that seem to leap from the picture plane, while the vast curve of the earthen-colored haystack anchors the composition with a sense of permanence. Overhead, pale sunbeams descend through a misty sky, bathing the meadow in shifting tones of green, violet, and gold. The painting's luminous palette and fluid brushwork reveal Butler's profound admiration for Monet's example while simultaneously asserting his own individuality within the Impressionist tradition.

This work will be included in Patrick Bertrand's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the work of Theodore Earl Butler.


More information about Theodore Earl Butler. See also: Butler, Theodore Earl, Butler, Theodore, Butler, Theodore E. Artist.

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