07 Works, October 17th. is Childe Hassam's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #258

Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935)

The Water Garden, c. 1909

Oil on canvas

24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This landscape, with its strong rhythmic composition, flattened space, and tapestry-like application of paint, illustrates the modification of Hassam's style at the turn of the century when he absorbed Post-Impressionist developments. The painting is thought to have been executed on the property of a friend in East Hampton who had a beautiful lily pond surrounded by irises. More on this painting

Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935)

Avenue of the Allies, Great Britain, c. 1918

Oil on canvas

36 x 28 3/8 in. (91.4 x 72.1 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The only major American Impressionist to depict the home front during World War I, Hassam produced his Flag series, some thirty canvases representing Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and adjacent streets decorated with patriotic emblems, from 1916 to 1919. For Liberty Loan drives, organized by the United States government to promote the sale of savings bonds, stretches of Fifth Avenue were draped with flags and red-and-white Liberty Loan banners. Here, Hassam looked north from Fifty-Third Street and compressed into a vibrant pattern three blocks of the avenue bearing flags of the Allies Great Britain, Brazil, and Belgium in addition to the Stars and Stripes. More on this painting

Childe Hassam, 1859 - 1935

Flags on 57th Street, Winter 1918

Oil on canvas

36 ¼ by 24 inches (92.1 by 61 cm)

Private collection

Sold for 12,328,500 USD in May 2021

“There was that Preparedness Day, and I looked up the avenue and saw these wonderful flags, waving, and I painted the series of Flag Pictures after that.” Childe Hassam.

the flag paintings—including Flags on 57th Street, Winter 1918—were critically and popularly acclaimed during Hassam’s lifetime, recognized as brilliant portrayals of a rapidly modernizing country and its entry into its first World War. More on this painting

Childe Hassam, 1859 - 1935

The Fourth of July, c. 1916

Oil on canvas

36 × 26 1/4 in. (91.4 × 66.7 cm)

New-York Historical Society

This painting by Childe Hassam depicts Fifth Avenue bedecked with dozens of American flags in celebration of Independence Day in 1916. The artist was a committed supporter of the Preparedness Movement, which advocated for a strengthened national defense after the outbreak of war in Europe in July 1914. Proponents of the cause staged parades in cities across the country for the next two years. Witnessing one such parade in May 1916, Hassam commented: “. . . I looked up the Avenue and saw those wonderful flags waving, and I painted a series of flag pictures after that.” More on this painting

Childe Hassam

Quai St. Michel, c. 1888

Oil on canvas

21 3/4 by 28 in., (55.3 by 71.1 cm)

Private collection

At center we see a young woman in elegant attire examining volumes in one of a half-dozen or so portable book stalls, watched over by a matronly proprietress who absent-mindedly tends to her knitting. The background is enlivened by groups of passers-by, including those crossing a bridge, and what appears to be a pair of workers leaning over a parapet to watch the steam barges on the river below. Street and sidewalk glisten as if in the aftermath of a passing downpour and, indeed, the figures of father and child seem dressed for rain, while the elegant young lady appears to carry a furled umbrella. Beyond the bridge to the right appears a group of tall buildings, and what may be a low, metal-roofed street market with the added details of colorful banners and an advertising kiosk. More on this painting

Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935)

Mrs. Hassam and Her Sister, c. 1889

Oil on canvas

9 13/16 x 6 1/8 in. (24.9 x 15.6 cm)

Terra Foundation for American Art

The artist’s wife, born Kathleen Maude Doane, and her sister Cora, Mrs. George H. Cotton, are the subjects of Childe Hassam’s image of leisure life in his Parisian studio-residence. Mrs. Hassam is absorbed in reading while her sister, her back to the viewer, plays an upright piano in a bare-floored space cluttered with chairs, paintings, and vases of flowers. To underscore the private informality of the scene, Hassam posed the women in semi-undress, clad in evening undergarments incongruously mixed, in Mrs. Hassam’s case, with long yellow evening gloves and the black shoes and stockings of daytime wear. The casual nature of this image, together with its somewhat tipped-up perspective and broken brushstrokes, document Hassam’s gradual absorption in the late 1880s of the strategies of impressionism, which championed the painting of modern subjects with a rapid, evident technique to capture the transient effects of light and movement. The personal nature of this work may explain why it remained in the artist’s possession throughout his life. More on this painting

Childe Hassam  (1859–1935)

Lillie (Lillie Langtry), circa 1898

Watercolor and gouache on paperboard

24 1/4 x 19 3/4 in. (61.7 x 50.2 cm)

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer.

Born on the island of Jersey, upon marrying she moved to London in 1876. Her looks and personality attracted interest, commentary, and invitations from artists and society hostesses, and she was celebrated as a young woman of great beauty and charm. During the aesthetic movement in England she was painted by aesthete artists, and in 1882 she became the poster-girl for Pears Soap, becoming the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product.

In 1881, Langtry became an actress and made her West End debut in the comedy She Stoops to Conquer, causing a sensation in London by becoming the first socialite to appear on stage. She would go on to star in many plays in both the United Kingdom and the United States. From the mid-1890s until 1919 Langtry lived at Regal Lodge at Newmarket in Suffolk, England, where she maintained a successful horse racing stable; the Lillie Langtry Stakes horse race is named after her.

One of the most glamorous British women of her era, Langtry was the subject of widespread public and media interest. Her acquaintances in London included Oscar Wilde, who encouraged Langtry to pursue acting. She was known for her relationships with royal figures and noblemen, including the future King Edward VII, Lord Shrewsbury, and Prince Louis of Battenberg. More on Lillie (Lillie Langtry). More on Lillie (Lillie Langtry)

Childe Hassam (1859–1935), was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Equally adept at capturing the excitement of modern cities and the charms of country retreats, Hassam became the foremost chronicler of New York City at the turn of the century. In our day, he is perhaps best known for his depictions of flag-draped Fifth Avenue during World War I. His finest works manifest his brilliant handling of color and light.

After establishing his reputation in Boston between 1882 and 1886, Hassam studied from 1886 to 1889 in Paris. There he was unusual among his American contemporaries in his attraction to French Impressionism, which was just beginning to find favor with American collectors. Hassam returned to the United States late in 1889 and took up lifelong residence in New York. His signature images include views of Boston, Paris, and New York, three urban centers whose places and pleasures he captured with affection and originality. 

While Hassam was unusual among the American Impressionists for his frequent depictions of burgeoning cities, he spent long periods in the countryside. There he found respite from urban pressures and inspiration for numerous important works of art. Hassam’s many portrayals of the old-fashioned gardens, rocky coast, and radiant sunlight of the Isles of Shoals, Maine. Among them is the 1901 view Coast Scene, Isles of Shoals, the first canvas by the artist to enter the collection of the Metropolitan Museum. Hassam’s images of Newport, Portsmouth, Old Lyme, Gloucester, and other New England locales also exemplify the late nineteenth-century appreciation of the picturesque region redolent of early American settlement and colonial growth. In 1919, Hassam and his wife purchased a colonial-period house in East Hampton, on the south fork of Long Island, New York, and made it their summer headquarters.

Hassam created more than 2,000 oils, watercolors, pastels, and illustrations, and—after 1912—more than 400 etchings and other prints. With these works he achieved critical acclaim and commercial success, riding the great wave of enthusiasm for American Impressionism to fame and fortune. More on Childe Hassam

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.