Quai du Louvre

Combining the early Tonalist style Childe Hassam developed in Boston with the spontaneity of the French Impressionists, Quai du Louvre was painted during a critical period of development in the years following the artist's move to Paris in 1886. Hassam moved abroad with the expressed intent of “refining his talent in the larger crucible of contemporary art” (D.F. Hoopes, Childe Hassam, New York, 1982, p. 13) and began his studies at the Académie Julian. However, his experience at the school was not entirely to his liking, as he rejected the emphasis on routine and conformity over innovation. By the time he painted the present work in 1889, he stopped attending the Academy altogether in order to cultivate the tenets of Impressionism on his own. Utilizing the city environs of Paris, Quai du Louvre reflects Hassam’s innovative employment of Impressionist techniques together with his unique sense of urban realism.