His father, Robert Pinchon, a librarian, journalist, playwright and drama critic,[1][2] was an intimate friend of Guy de Maupassant and also became a close protege of Gustave Flaubert.

The piece was presented officially on 15 May 1877 at the studio of Maurice Leloir, in front of Gustave Flaubert, Émile Zola, Ivan Turgenev and eight elegantly dressed masked women.

[1][4] In 1900 Robert Antoine exhibited a painting in the storefront of a camera supply store owned by Dejonghe and Dumont in the rue de la République, one of the principle arteries of central Rouen.

[4] Though not a typical showspace, it was nonetheless visible to the public and located only a few meters from l'Hôtel du Dauphin et d'Espagne, known for its exhibitions of artists such as Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Guillaumin and Sisley.

[5] The art critic Georges Dubosc wrote an article about Pinchon's painting in Le Journal de Rouen (16 March 1900).

[4] In addition to the academic training of the Beaux-Arts, Pinchon frequented the Académie libre that had been founded in 1895-96 by Joseph Delattre (1858-1912) in the rue des Charrettes, a rallying point for independent artists of the new generation of l'École de Rouen.

Pinchon's work was noticed by Impressionist art collector François Depeaux (1853–1920), at whose home he had the opportunity to converse many times with Albert Lebourg, Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet; Monet characterized him as "a surprising touch in the service of a surprising eye" (étonnante patte au service d'un oeil surprenant).

[2][8] Encouraged by Monet's praise, François Depeaux decided to take charge of the young artist's career; at first by purchasing several of Pinchon's works.

At the age of nineteen, while still a student at l'École des Beaux-Arts, he had his first major exhibition; at the Galerie Legrip, Rouen, 27 April–13 May 1905, with twenty-four paintings on display.

Louis Vauxcelles coined the phrase les fauves ('the wild beasts') to describe a circle of painters exhibiting in the same room as a classical sculpture.

[12] Another art critic responding to the Salon d'Automne, Marcel Nicolle, wrote in the Journal de Rouen on 20 November that these works have "no relation to painting" and compared them to "the barbaric and naïve games of a child who plays with a box of colors".

1367 of the catalogue) Musée de Louviers, Eure[16] His paintings of this period are closely related to the Post-Impressionist and Fauvist styles, with golden yellows, incandescent blues, a thick impasto and larger brushstrokes.

[2] At the instigation of Pierre Dumont and inspired by Othon Friesz's group called Le Cercle de l'Art Moderne, in Le Havre, the group XXX (thirty) was formed as a collective of independent writers, painters and sculptors from the vicinity of Rouen,[17] including Matisse, Derain, Dufy and Vlaminck contributing to the endeavor.

[1][10] The group published a "manifesto" called "Almanach pour 1908" and included artists typically associated with the new generation of l'École de Rouen.

[4][17] Robert Antoine Pinchon's first solo exhibition in Paris took place on 15–25 March 1909 at the Galerie des Artistes Modernes run by Chaine and Simonson, with thirty works listed in the catalogue.

A few months later, on 13 November, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen opened a show with fifty-two paintings: three by Monet, nine by Sisley, three by Guillaumin, one by Renoir, thirteen by Lebourg, five by Delattre, two by Freshon and four by Robert Antoine Pinchon.

[4] In 1909 Pinchon, Dumont, Hodé and Tirvert founded the "Société Normande de Peinture Moderne," which attracted the participation of Braque, Matisse, Dufy, Vlaminck, Derain, Marquet, Friesz, Picabia, and La Fresnaye.

A succession of shows followed: Galerie Legrip in Rouen (May), Galerie de Mme Le Bas, in Le Havre (July), and the 3rd exposition of the Société Normande de la Peinture Moderne (15 June–15 July): Here Pinchon showed twelve works alongside Dufy, Lhote, Léger, Gleizes, Gris, Picabia and Duchamp.

Pinchon's next show on record was at the 8th Salon des artistes rouennais, 1913, followed by the 4th exposition of the Société Normande de la Peinture, the same year.

[18] In parallel was the 5th and last exhibition of the Société Normande de la Peinture Moderne, which included works by Utrillo, Friesz, Guillaumin, Luce, Vlaminck and Pinchon.

Once recovered, he was sent back to the front lines, but during fierce fighting in the village of Tahure on 6 October Pinchon was wounded, this time by shrapnel to the right arm.

Pinchon was represented with four paintings, along with Bonnard, Boudin, Camoin, Cross, Guillaumin, Lebourg, Luce, Matisse, Monet, Signac and Vuillard.

[4] In 1926 Pinchon again had a solo exhibition in Paris, this time at the Galerie A.M. Reitlinger, 12 rue La Boétie, with 45 paintings on display from 16 February to 4 March.

Movement is everywhere present, expressed or suggested: the multitude of changing reflected tones diversify the water, clouds populate the sky unpredictably; the fugitive temporal coloration, together, observed from a unique vantage-point give the impression of ten entirely different landscapes that animate the vibrant roseate of dusk, the delicate violates of twilight, the emerald green of the passing breeze, the soft grays of morning, the nacre iridescence of winter.

Other artists represented at this show included Hubert Robert, Vernet, Cochin, Huet, Lepère, Monet, Lebourg and Martin.

[4] Pinchon exhibited for the last time between 16 May and 15 June, at l'Hôtel de la Couronne, place du Vieux-Marché, Rouen.

Four streets in the Seine-Maritime region of Normandy are named in commemoration of Robert Antoine Pinchon: in Barentin, Bois-Guillaume, Le Mesnil-Esnard and Pavilly.