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Grez-sur-Loing was a riverside village south of Paris beloved by artists and musicians the world over. They came from nearby England and Scotland and Ireland, slightly farther Scandinavia, and the not-near-at-all United States and Japan — among their ranks Camille Corot and John Singer Sargent. And Robert Vonnoh. Summer typically had the strongest clarion call, but certain painters liked to focus on the edges of seasonal lovability, where bitings winds and muddy boots reside. That’s where we find Vonnoh’s Grez-sur-Loing, on an overcast day in early spring in France, light grey buildings set against light grey sky. But grey isn’t quite right, is it? Because while the young green leaves and smattering of blossoms are the obvious signs of warmth that’s already here as well as the warmth to come, they do not stand out defiantly against their backdrop. The whole scene is cast in something more like a silvery glow, the kind of muted magic that comes with adoring a place to its very roots.
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