Lot 23414: WILLIAM ANDERSON COFFIN (American 1855-1925) The

WILLIAM ANDERSON COFFIN (American 1855-1925) The Close of Day , circa 1883 Oil on canvas 55-1/2 x 39-1/2 inches (141.0 x 100.3 cm) Signed lower left: W.A. Coffin Old label verso: The Close of Day/ Old Church at Grez, France / Date from about the 13th century / William A. Coffin After studying painting at Yale University, Coffin traveled to Paris to continue his education. Coffin exhibited at the Salons of 1879, 1880 and 1882 and studied at the atelier of Leon Bonnat (1833-1922). This painting was completed before he returned to New York in 1883 and shows influence of French Barbizon paintings. By 1875, the Barbizon artists colony had fallen out of favor and a new artists' colony was founded in Grez-sur-Loing. At Grez artists could find a sympathetic inn keeper and several picturesque sites including the local church, the subject of this painting, castle ruins, and the bridge over the Loing. Grez was an international artists colony with French, Scandinavian, Japanese and American painters such as Robert Vonnoh (1858-1933), whose The Bridge at Grez of circa 1907-1911 is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.