Childe Hassam. American Impressionist

Childe Hassam (1859–1935), a pioneer of American Impressionism and perhaps its most devoted, prolific, and successful practitioner, was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts (now part of Boston), into a family descended from settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Equally adept at capturing the charms of country retreats and the excitement of modern cities, Hassam became the foremost chronicler of New York City at the turn of the century. In our day, he is best known for his depictions of flag-draped Fifth Avenue during World War I.

This spring, The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers "Childe Hassam, American Impressionist," an unprecedented exhibition of about 120 of Hassam's finest oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels, and some 20 prints. On view through September 12, 2004, the retrospective—the first to appear in a museum since 1972—celebrates Hassam's brilliant handling of color and light and examines his responses to the advent of the modern era in view of his credo that "the man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of every-day life around him."

The exhibition is made possible by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and The Bank of New York.

Additional support for the exhibition and accompanying catalogue has been provided by the Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund.

Images of Boston, Paris, and New York After establishing his reputation in Boston and studying in Paris—where he was unusual among his American contemporaries in his attraction to French Impressionism—Hassam returned to the United States and took up lifelong residence in New York. The exhibition features many of Hassam's signature images of Boston, Paris, and New York—three cities whose places and pleasures he captured with affection and originality. Examples include Boston Common at Twilight (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) from 1885–86; April Showers, Champs Elysées, Paris (Joslyn Art Museum), painted in 1888; and Late Afternoon, New York: Winter 1900 (Brooklyn Museum of Art).

Depictions of the Countryside While Hassam was exceptional among the American Impressionists for his frequent depictions of burgeoning cities, he spent long periods in the countryside, where 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, are among his most cherished works and are represented extensively. Among them will be the 1894 interior scene The Room of Flowers (private collection) and the 1901 view Coast Scenes, Isles of Shoals, the first canvas by the artist to enter the collection of the Metropolitan Museum.

Views of New England Locales Hassam's views of Newport, Portsmouth, Old Lyme, Gloucester, and other New England locales exemplify the late nineteenth-century appreciation of the picturesque region redolent of early American settlement and colonial growth. An example is the 1905 work, Church at Old Lyme (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo).

Interior Vignettes Increasingly challenged by modern life—and modern art—after 1900, Hassam chose to paint tranquil interior vignettes, iconic churches in the northeast, patriotic urban scenes—especially the memorable Flag series—and glimpses of East Hampton, Long Island, where he purchased a summer residence in 1919. These images will also be highlighted.

Exhibition Organizer The exhibition was organized by H. Barbara Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture.

Childe Hassam
American Impressionist
Kurator: H. Barbara Weinberg