Robert VONNOH (Hartford 1858 - Nice 1933) Lot n° 40

The cherry tree in blossom Original oil on canvas 61.5 x 76 cm Signed lower Robert Vonnoh In Grez, the Simard sisters lived in a courtyard adjoining the Hôtel Chevillon (home to the international colony of Impressionist painters), and facing the corner of Place du Sauvage and mas-grandparents' bakery. This enclosure, preceded by a porch, still includes several cottages, one of which was rented by Marie Simard, since the 1880s, to the American painter Robert Vonnoh. Marie had remained unmarried, taking in her "big boy" like a mother during his stays in France and managing his estate when he returned to America. Her sister Aline was married to Désiré Moreau, a former carriage driver in Paris and first cousin of my grandfather, the baker. The two neighboring families were very close, and both sisters were familiar with the artistic tastes of their neighbor and cousin by marriage. In 1914, the outbreak of war prompted Vonnoh to leave her studio and its contents in the care of the two sisters. At the end of hostilities, Vonnoh returned to France with his second wife, Betty Potter, but settled in Nice. He spent some time in Grez, probably after Marie's death. With Aline's help, he made an inventory of his paintings, leaving her the part of his furniture and works that no longer interested her. Aline "religiously" preserved her "hero's" legacy and, on her death in 1938, passed it on to her cousin Marthe - my grandmother - whom she deemed worthy of ensuring that this memory would live on. Marie Simard la logeuse (died February 8, 1920) bequeathed to her sister Alix Simard (deceased November 27, 1938), who passed on the paintings to Marthe Floreau Crepin (deceased December 30, 1950), the current owner's grandmother.