Theodore Butler was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of a prominent businessman. After college he entered the Art Students’ League in New York City, studying under William Merritt Chase, J Carroll Beckwith and Thomas Dewing and becoming close friends with Theodore Robinson, J. Alden Weir and Philip Leslie Hale. Together with Hale, Butler set off for Paris in late 1886 and during the following year studied at the Academie Julien, the Academie Colarossi and in the atelier of Carolus-Duran. Butler received quick recognition from the Paris Salon, garnering an Honorable mention in 1888 with his painting “La Veuve” (“The Widow”), but soon afterwards he settled in Giverny, joining many of his fellow artists from New York days. The American expatriate painters in Giverny were a close-knit group, very supportive of each other and greatly interested in the latest concepts and theories. Of course, the greatest influence on them all was Monet, the long-time resident of this section of Normandy. Butler married Suzanne Hoschede, Monet’s stepdaughter, in 1892, thus becoming a member of the Monet household despite the older artist’s objections. Butler, however, was very much his own person, not only in matters of the heart, and although Monet certainly influenced his work, his personal direction was always very clear and he pursued a modern and daring course throughout his career. In February of 1899, Suzanne passed away, leaving Butler with their two children, Jimmy, age six and Lilli, age four. The children, and Butler as well, were very fond of Suzanne’s sister, Marthe, who became a surrogate mother and eventually Butler’s second wife. It was a marriage based on friendship and shared memories, for Butler mourned the loss of Suzanne for many years. The children and Marthe were constant subjects for his paintings, and in 1908 Butler painted a series of intimate genre scenes of the now almost-grown Lili reading or writhing at home. “writing a Letter” is a beautiful example of this series, in which Butler diffuses the forms to create a soft, intimate effect heightened by the use of soft blue tones throughout the composition. These works are particularly poignant, as Lili seems to recall to Butler her mother, just as, coincidently, Monet used to pose Suzanne because she reminded him of his beloved first wife, Camille.