Childe Hassam in 10 Paintings: Discover the American Impressionist

1. Avenue of the Allies Series

This painting from 1917 belongs to Hassam’s Avenue of the Allies series, consisting of scenes from 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, and adjacent streets. Here we see French, American, Greek, and Polish flags hanging along banners that read “Buy Liberty Bonds.” During World War I, the government encouraged citizens to buy savings bonds to fund the war abroad. It was seen as a patriotic duty. The paintings in this series are unique for portraying American urban life during the war.

2. The Isle of Shoals

Childe Hassam loved the Isle of Shoals, a group of rocky islands in the Gulf of Maine near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This coastal landscape is one of his many paintings created at this place. Hassam’s favorite pastime was swimming and he was a Maidstone Club member, hence his fondness for the coastal views. In 2016, the Peabody Essex Museum, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Shoals Marine Laboratory co-created the exhibition American Impressionist: Childe Hassam and the Isles of Shoals. It reunited more than 39 paintings and watercolors from his time there. According to curator John Coffey, 10% of Hassam’s total artistic production comes from Appledore Island, the largest island of the group.

3. Time in Paris

Like many other American artists, Hassam traveled to Paris to perfect his talent and technique. He began painting everyday scenes of urban life as he learned about French Impressionism. His fondness for rainy scenes is expressed in multiple paintings like this one. Apart from the subject, his style also shows the influence of the famous Impressionists. The evident brushstrokes enhance the effect of the wet street that reflects the people and carriages passing through the street.

4. Acclaimed Painter

We often hear about the struggles of the Impressionists in being accepted by critics, but Hassam did not have such issues. He received multiple medals, prizes, and recognition for his work. The painting above is titled Une Averse—rue Bonaparte, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1887. Once again, he painted a rainy scene in which we can see life in Paris, with people of different classes traversing the muddy street. This is very much the kind of painting where the Impressionists would exercise painting en plein air.

5. Interior Scenes

Interior scenes or genre scenes were common for Impressionist artists who wanted to portray the everyday life of common people. Childe Hassam, like many, focused on women enjoying domestic life. Improvisation shows us a young woman playing the piano, next to the window. The absence of music sheets and the work’s title tell us she is not following any particular piece. In the foreground, we see a table with various glass vases containing single flowers. It is uncertain who the sitter is, the piano player or the woman in the portrait on the wall.

6. Modern Scenes

Impressionism distinguished itself by looking at the everyday scenes, the urban settings, and the life of the middle class. Childe Hassam followed the same route and dismissed the historical painting. At Dusk (Boston Common at Twilight) from 1885-1886 represents exactly what the title says, a normal day in Boston Common park.

We can see how Hassam mastered the depiction of light by covering the canvas with an orange cover and leaving blue details at the top. The building and trees enhance the depth of the image. Furthermore, this particular place in the city speaks about another trait of Impressionism: modernity. Boston Common was a new business district filled with noise and movement from carriages and trolleys like the ones we see in Childe Hassam’s painting. We can see that the brushstrokes in this painting are smoother than in his previous works.

7. Mythological Paintings

Despite the previous thoughts on historical painting, Childe Hassam created a few mythological paintings. This portrayal of the goddess Pomona speaks about American culture of the time. At the turn of the century, Americans worried about the influx of immigrants who arrived in the United States to work. They wanted to preserve and protect their culture as it was. Pomona, the goddess of gardens and orchards, became a symbol for the cultivation of American culture. Moreover, Hassam represents her with her apples, which are not only important elements from her mythological story but fruits which are symbolic in American history.

8. Ten American Painters

Childe Hassam was a member of the Ten American Painters group, quite a literal name. It was not uncommon back then to form groups among artists with similar interests, in this case, the Impressionist style on the East Coast. Hassam was one of the three founders, together with John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir. They exhibited independently from other societies.

According to an 1889 catalog, The Spanish Stairs was one of Hassam’s paintings shown at the group’s first exhibition. He painted this while traveling through Rome in 1897. In fact, he painted the famous Spanish Stairs three times, and much like Monet’s Notre Dame series, at different times of the day to experiment with light.

9. Works in Museum Collections

Apart from the prizes Hassam got for his talent, museums acquired his artworks while he was alive. Pont Royal, Paris was the first painting that reached a museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio. This oil on canvas differs from the style exhibited in previous paintings. It is more vibrant, but it maintains its Impressionistic characteristics. He painted this during the same travel that took him to Rome. This view comes from his hotel room in Quai Voltaire. For this piece, he earned the Temple Gold Medal from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

10. Still Life

The last painting in this list is a still life, another genre in which Childe Hassam experimented. Oregon Still Life is not a generic work. He visited Portland, Oregon in 1904 and made this painting which includes regional fruits from the garden of Scott Wood, a founder of the Portland Art Museum. The blue fruits scattered over the table are Oregon plums.

This selection of ten paintings by the talented Childe Hassam illustrates his varied artistic career as well as his connections in the art world that led him to fame. We are fortunate to have footage of his life in the short film Childe Hassam, Artist: A Short Personal Sketch from 1932.