catalog text
"AN AUTUMN STREAM" BY HAL ROBINSON (AMERICAN, 1875-1933)
In oil on canvas, signed HAL ROBINSON lower left
Item # 009DEQ18A
This fine autumnal landscape perhaps captures the essence of Hal Robinson's ability to convey warmth and optimism despite the heavy atmosphere of his work. Through use of his vivid palette, Robinson evokes a sense that there is light on the other side of the fog. The image is obscured by the dense mist that hangs over the forest floor while a small stream meanders through the woods. The sun shows hints of breaking through the cloud cover and brilliant blues on the other side are hinted at and even partially realized.
Executed in oil on canvas, the painting is signed in the lower left corner in his typical script "HAL ROBINSON". The reverse of the painting retains gallery labels from Questroyal Fine Arts in New York City. It is housed in a fine period giltwood frame.
Almost singularly a landscape painter, New York artist Hal Robinson worked in a period of decline for the realism landscapes of the Hudson River School where the collecting public sought an altered perspective. In light of the growing availability of photographic equipment, artists worked to capture aspects of their subjects that a camera could not. Highly naturalistic in his emphasis, Hal Robinson's work is often described as an infusion of Impressionism and Tonalism, his works being particularly airy and focused on the way light diffused strikes objects of similar palette in a harmonious and peaceful way to result in a hazy and atmospheric rendering of a static environment.
His work is optimistic and bright - perhaps even sleepy and somewhat romantic despite his very excited and dynamic brushstrokes. He started exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1896 with "The Meadow", exhibiting "After a Spring Rain" at the 1910 Concoran Annual in Washington D.C. and showing at Carnegie international in 1911. Eventually he joined many of his Tonalist and Impressionist contemporaries at the painter’s colony in Old Lyme, Connecticut, working together with some of the most important artists of the period. His work is held today in the permanent collections of the Art Collection, Philadelphia and the Cigna Museum.
Artist Listings & Further Reading:
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. XI, Gründ, 2006, p. 1182-82
- Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, 1999
- The Annual Exhibition Record of the National Academy of Design, 1901 – 1950, Peter Hastings Falk, 1990, p. 442
Measurements: 25 1/8" H x 30 1/4" W [canvas]; 36 3/4" H x 41 1/2" W [frame]
Condition Report:
Professionally cleaned by our conservator and sealed in a traditional Damar varnish. Relined. Under UV shows a few points of inpainted touchups, perhaps less than 1%. Light surface craquelure. Very faint stretcher bar impressions. Period frame with discolorations to the gilding, cracks in the corners from shrinkage over time, other minor chips/cracks/wear as expected. An exceptional presentation.