Butler at Giverny
Butler signed the register under number 11 at Hotel Baudy in 1888 (May 20 – September 1888) along with Theodore Wendel, an Ohioan who also studied at Academy Julian. Butler stayed again at Hotel Baudy from October 1891 until July 21, 1892. Besides himself, other American painters who spent time in Giverny included John Leslie Breck, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Edmund Greacen, Philip Leslie Hale, Willard Metcalf, Lilla Cabot Perry, Theodore Robinson and Guy Rose. On July 3 Butler and Robinson had dinner at Monet's house.
Angelina and Lucien Baudy opened Hotel Baudy in June 1887. The hotel became the hub for many American expatriates. At Hotel Baudy, artists could buy canvases from Lefevre Foinet and American food celebrating Thanksgiving was served. The village began to attract a great deal of attention. According to Terra Museum historians Katherine M. Bourguignon and Vanessa Lecomte, over 350 painters from eighteen countries painted in Giverny.
An exhibition of foreign artists including Butler, Meteyard, Fox, Dice, Stasburg and Dawson Watson was organized from January 31, 1892 to February 1892.
After becoming close friends with Claude Monet, Butler married Monet's stepdaughter, Suzanne Hoschedé in 1892.
Suzanne is known as The woman with a Parasol and she was Claude Monet's favorite model. The event of their marriage is described by Theodore Robinson in his diaries as
a great day – The marriage of Butler and Mlle. Suzanne. Everybody nearly at the church – the peasants – many almost unrecognizable ... Monet entering first with Suzanne, then Butler and Mme. H (Hoschede). Considerable feeling on the part of the parents – a breakfast at the atelier – lasting most of the afternoon. Frequent showers, champagne and gaiety … Dinner and evening at the Monet's – bride and groom left at 7:3 for the Paris train.
The event was also immortalized in a painting by Theodore Robinson titled The Wedding March. Butler became a key player and link between the American Colony and Claude Monet. The Butler family organized many dinners such as one held October 25, 1892 with Robinson, Hale, Hart and Marthe Hoschedé. Butler decided to buy an orchard and built a new house. "We, Suzanne and Jimmy and I wish that you were here we'd like to see you first rate. I have been working some, about half as much as I should – perhaps less – We are building a house back of Peggy's in that little orchard you must remember. Said house is to be a wonder of elegance and taste – You will see it next year perhaps."
Butler participated in the publication and conception of the Courier Innocent. He did the cover and illustrated many pages. Butler painted a series of his own family: son Jimmy Butler born in 1893, and daughter Lilly Butler born in 1894. Those paintings included series entitled The Bath, After the Bath, and Playing with Jimmy. Butler developed his own impressionist style with light palettes and loose brushstrokes, reminiscent of works done by Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. From his garden he painted landscapes showing the church of Giverny, The Demoiselles (small haystacks) and the grain stacks.
After a lingering illness, Suzanne Hoschede died in 1899. Thereafter most of Butler's paintings were landscapes. Marthe Hoschede, Suzanne's sister helped Butler raise Jimmy and Lilly. In 1899 Theodore Earl Butler decided to go back to the United States. A letter from Henry Prellwitz to Philip Leslie Hale indicated that Hart told him that Butler will sail on September 16 on La Touraine.
Butler had several one man shows in New York City. He exhibited in 1900 at Paul Durand-Ruel gallery in New York.
A critic wrote:
Mr. Butler moves in another sphere from common folk, and his retina must have a peculiar faculty for chromatic analysis ... There is an attempt to lift these excesses to an airy height by adding a poetic flavor in the titles as in No. 24. "Rain Clouds": but if the title is correct it must have been raining bricks, for there is no misty vapory thinness: everything is as solidly packed as a steamer trunk-hence the elevated conceit comes down with a dull thud. No 3 "A Floating Mist" and Nos. 5 and 11, showing the same haystack under the baptism of an opalescent and an autumn sunrise declare some better work. Claude Monet, the great luminarist, who proved at least to the world the reasonableness of his artistic conceptions may not be proud of his Giverny pupil who should rub up against some of his own American trees and get down out of the clouds.
After six months he was back in Giverny. He married Marthe Hoschedé, Suzanne's sister in 1900.
The Butler family and the Rose family, Ethel and Guy Rose, rented summer houses in Veules les Roses. Butler was also a close friend of Philip Hale, John Singer Sargent, and Maximilien Luce.
