Union Square, Winter (Washington Monument)

Provenance

The artist

(Possibly) Archie Chandler, New York, acquired from above

Henry Morgenthau Jr., Poughkeepsie, New York

Robert M. Morgenthau, New York, by descent from above, 1967

Estate of Robert M. Morgenthau, New York, 2019

Sale, Christie’s, New York, New York, May 17, 2022, lot 39, from above

Exhibited

(Possibly) Macbeth Gallery, New York, New York, Theodore Robinson, 1895

(Possibly) Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 65th Annual Exhibition, December 23, 1895–February 22, 1896

(Possibly) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Theodore Robinson (1852–1896), November 13, 1946–January 5, 1947

Literature

John I. H. Baur, Theodore Robinson (1852–1896) (Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, 1946), 77, no. 232.

Related Work

Union Square, 1895, oil on canvas, 20 x 16⅝ inches; New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut

Note

Art collector Henry Morgenthau Jr. served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury throughout most of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. In 1934, he established the Treasury Section of Fine Arts whose aim was to collect works of art to showcase to the public in federal buildings across the country, including this painting.

Robinson lived near Union Square, a neighborhood with many artist studios at the time. He painted several depictions of this iconic square featuring the equestrian monument of George Washington.