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Lot Essay
We would like to thank the Hassam catalogue raisonné committee for their assistance with cataloguing this work.
This work will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.
In 1892, Childe Hassam reflected, "There is nothing so interesting to me as people. I am never tired of observing them in everyday life, as they hurry through the streets on business or saunter down the promenade on pleasure." (I.S. Fort, Childe Hassam’s New York, San Francisco, California, 1993, p. VII) Indeed, the success of Hassam's views of Boston, Paris and New York derives from his love of observing the vitality of city life. In particular, his park scenes served as images of pastoral retreats from the harsh reality of urban living. These new man-made parks were created as a much-needed escape for an urban population that was suffering under the burden of rapid industrialization. Representing the artist’s early efforts towards his unique style of commitment to composition, color, light and atmosphere, A Stroll in the Park offers a unique glimpse of the then young artist’s brilliance in depicting the fashionable thoroughfares of the world’s great 19th-century cities.
Painted circa 1886, A Stroll in the Garden possibly depicts Boston where Hassam lived with his wife before returning to Europe at the end of the same year. Executed with elegance and poise, the composition features a woman mid-stroll through what appears to be a crisp fall afternoon. In typical Hassam fashion, the artist lavishes the canvas with dapples of reds, oranges and browns in the foreground depicting falling leaves, with rows of trees lining the woman's stroll to the right. Dressed in the high fashion of the day, the subject’s sumptuous white dress fall elegantly just above her feet, which Hassam brilliantly renders to show the deep folds and luxuriant texture.
The present work retains a period Carrig-Rohane frame.
This work will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.
In 1892, Childe Hassam reflected, "There is nothing so interesting to me as people. I am never tired of observing them in everyday life, as they hurry through the streets on business or saunter down the promenade on pleasure." (I.S. Fort, Childe Hassam’s New York, San Francisco, California, 1993, p. VII) Indeed, the success of Hassam's views of Boston, Paris and New York derives from his love of observing the vitality of city life. In particular, his park scenes served as images of pastoral retreats from the harsh reality of urban living. These new man-made parks were created as a much-needed escape for an urban population that was suffering under the burden of rapid industrialization. Representing the artist’s early efforts towards his unique style of commitment to composition, color, light and atmosphere, A Stroll in the Park offers a unique glimpse of the then young artist’s brilliance in depicting the fashionable thoroughfares of the world’s great 19th-century cities.
Painted circa 1886, A Stroll in the Garden possibly depicts Boston where Hassam lived with his wife before returning to Europe at the end of the same year. Executed with elegance and poise, the composition features a woman mid-stroll through what appears to be a crisp fall afternoon. In typical Hassam fashion, the artist lavishes the canvas with dapples of reds, oranges and browns in the foreground depicting falling leaves, with rows of trees lining the woman's stroll to the right. Dressed in the high fashion of the day, the subject’s sumptuous white dress fall elegantly just above her feet, which Hassam brilliantly renders to show the deep folds and luxuriant texture.
The present work retains a period Carrig-Rohane frame.