Geraniums (circa 1888-1889)

Childe Hassam prints capture America at the turn of the twentieth century in the bright, broken color of Impressionism. Hassam painted rain-slicked Boston streets, the busy avenues of New York, flags flying for the Allies in 1917, and summer gardens and rocky shores on the Isles of Shoals. Our collection brings together more than 120 of his paintings and watercolors as fine art prints, from Allies Day, May 1917 to Celia Thaxter's poppy garden.

About Childe Hassam

Frederick Childe Hassam was born on 17 October 1859 in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts. He started out in the accounts department of the publisher Little, Brown and Company, then learned wood engraving and became a freelance illustrator for magazines such as Harper's Weekly, Scribner's Monthly and The Century. He took drawing and painting classes in Boston and held his first solo show, of watercolors, in 1883. The next year the poet Celia Thaxter persuaded him to drop his first name, and he married Maud Doane.

In 1886 Hassam returned to Paris to study, and there his palette grew lighter under the influence of the French Impressionists. He won a bronze medal at the 1889 Exposition Universelle and that year settled in New York City, which became one of his great subjects. In 1897 he helped form The Ten, a group of American painters who broke away from the Society of American Artists.

For many summers Hassam painted on Appledore Island in the Isles of Shoals, off the New Hampshire and Maine coast, where Celia Thaxter kept a famous flower garden, and he later worked in the art colonies of Cos Cob and Old Lyme in Connecticut. From 1916 he painted about thirty pictures of flags flying over Fifth Avenue during the First World War. He died in East Hampton, New York, on 27 August 1935, aged 75, having made more than 3,000 paintings, watercolors, etchings and lithographs.

Style and Subjects

Hassam is often called the leading American Impressionist. Like Monet he painted with short strokes of bright, unmixed color, but his subjects were American: city crowds, carriages and streetcars in rain and snow, New England churches and harbors, and sun-filled island gardens.

Two themes run through his work. One is the modern city, from the wet pavements of Boston in the 1880s to the flag-hung canyons of Fifth Avenue. The other is the coast and garden, especially the poppies, hollyhocks and granite ledges of Appledore. Later in life he also painted women at sunny windows and figures in landscapes. Look for the small crescent he added before his signature.

Famous Works

• Rainy Day, Boston (1885), Toledo Museum of Art. A wide, wet street corner on Columbus Avenue in Boston's South End, with figures under umbrellas.
• In the Garden (Celia Thaxter in Her Garden) (1892), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington. The poet in white among the flowers of her island garden on Appledore.
• Thaxter's Garden (1892), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington. A watercolor of the same garden in full bloom.
• Allies Day, May 1917 (1917), National Gallery of Art, Washington. Fifth Avenue hung with American, British and French flags, the best known of his flag paintings.
• The Avenue in the Rain (1917), The White House, Washington. A flag painting of Fifth Avenue on a rainy day, which has hung in the Oval Office.

Decorating with Hassam Prints

Hassam's garden and seaside paintings from the Isles of Shoals, full of red poppies, blue sea and pale granite, are a natural fit for sunrooms, kitchens, bedrooms and beach houses. His New England church and harbor scenes from Old Lyme, Cos Cob and Gloucester suit classic, cozy interiors.

For a living room, entry or home office, his city pictures make a strong statement. The flag paintings, such as Allies Day and Avenue of the Allies, are a good choice for patriotic décor or a gift, while the rainy Boston and New York street scenes, in soft grays and violets, sit well against modern and neutral walls.

Frequently Asked Questions

What art movement was Childe Hassam part of?

Hassam was an American Impressionist, and he is often named the best known of them. He was also a founding member of The Ten, a group of American Impressionist painters formed in 1897.

What are Childe Hassam's flag paintings?

Starting in 1916, Hassam painted about thirty views of flags hung along Fifth Avenue in New York during the First World War. The most famous, Allies Day, May 1917, is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

What were the Isles of Shoals to Hassam?

The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands off the New Hampshire and Maine coast. Hassam spent many summers on Appledore Island, painting its rocky shores and the garden of his friend, the poet Celia Thaxter.

Where can I see Childe Hassam's original paintings?

His work is in many American museums, including the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington and the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio.

How can I recognize a Childe Hassam painting?

Look for bright, broken brushstrokes, American city streets or New England coasts and gardens, and often a small crescent shape painted just before his signature.

Related Artists

• Claude Monet, the French Impressionist whose broken color shaped Hassam's style
• John Henry Twachtman, fellow member of The Ten who also painted at Cos Cob
• William Merritt Chase, American Impressionist who later joined The Ten
• Mary Cassatt, American painter who exhibited with the French Impressionists