Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
American Impressionist Paintings from the Terra Foundation for the Arts The legendary collector Daniel J. Terra (1911-1996) established the Foundation for the Daniel J. Terra Museum (later renamed the Terra Foundation for the Arts) in 1978; its stated purpose was "to form, preserve, and exhibit collections...of American art." Ambassador at Large for Cultural Affairs from 1981 to 1989, Terra was above all a champion of the American achievement, one who saw his collection as a means for furthering appreciation of American art both in the U.S. and abroad. 1980 saw the opening of the Terra Museum of American Art in Evanston, Illinois; in 1987 the museum was moved to handsomely renovated quarters at 664 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. In 1992, Mr. Terra founded a sister institution, the Musée d'Art Américain, which is housed in an elegant contemporary building near Monet's famous gardens in Giverny, France. Working through these two museums, the Terra Foundation carries on a rich artistic and educational program in both France and the U.S. devoted to American art from colonial times to the mid-twentieth century. Our activities include organizing and mounting important exhibitions, producing scholarly books and catalogues, offering lectures and classes, giving grants to young scholars in the field, and funding relevant projects at other institutions which share our aims. The Terra Collection is known for both its breadth--as demonstrated by such well-known masterpieces as Samuel F.B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre, George Caleb Bingham's Jolly Flatboatmen, and Edmund C. Tarbell's The Orchard, as well as magnificent works by such modern masters as Charles Sheeler, Edward Hopper, and Marsden Hartley--and for its special strength in the paintings of the American Impressionists and other late nineteenth century artists. Ambassador Terra especially loved the work of Maurice Prendergast, Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, and James A.M. Whistler, as well as many of the Americans who spent time in Giverny itself, such as Theodore Robinson, John Leslie Breck, Frederic C. Frieseke, and Lilla Cabot Perry, and he collected it in great depth. The Terra Foundation continues to collect, guided by our founder's dedication to quality and his ambition to form a collection truly representative of the whole field of American art. Thus in recent years we have sought to broaden the collection, purchasing outstanding works by John Singleton Copley, Washington Allston, Eastman Johnson, Martin J. Heade, George Bellows, and Rockwell Kent, among others. From time to time, after careful consideration, we also sell from the collection works which our museum directors and curators, the foundation's Collections Committee, and our Board of Directors, deem no longer central to our mission. The proceeds from such sales are used exclusively for the purchase of other works of art for the Terra Collection. Dan Terra found joy in these pictures, and we hope that new owners will take equal delight in them. Paul Hayes Tucker, Chairman and President Terra Foundation for the Arts Property From The Terra Foundation for the Arts, Sold to Benefit the Aquistions Fund
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)

Outside the Café on the Grand Boulevard

Details
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Outside the Café on the Grand Boulevard
signed and dated 'Childe Hassam 1898' (lower right)
gouache and charcoal on paper
15½ x 11¼ in. (39.4 x 28.5 cm.)
Provenance
Lillian Bostwick Phipps.
Sotheby's, New York, 25 May 1988, lot 152.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.
Literature
Musée d'Art Américain Giverny,Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865-1915, Chicago, Illinois, 1992, pp. 242-243, illustrated
Exhibited
New York, John Nicholson Gallery, Early Works by Childe Hassam, 1944, illustrated
Giverny, France, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865-1915, June-November 1992; April-October 1993; April-October 1994; April-October 1995
Chicago, Illinois, Terra Museum of American Art, American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880-1910, November 1997-March 1998

Lot Essay

Throughout the history of American art, Childe Hassam has maintained his undisputed reputation as an ingenious American Impressionist artist. His works have ranged from the celebrated landscapes of Appledore to depictions of New York and Parisian bourgeoisie life. Outside the Café on the Grand Boulevard is an excellent example of Hassam's fascination with Parisian motifs. Not only is this painting symbolic of the Impressionist movement, but it also symbolizes a pastime that he acquired while studying at the Académie Julian in Paris. "Hassam's greatest amusement was to wander about the streets of Paris in search of motifs for his paintings." (U.W. Heisinger, Childe Hassam, New York, 1994, p.42)

Although this painting was completed about 10 years after he had studied at the Académie Julian, he used the same methods of wandering the streets in search of potential subject matters when he decided to revisit France in 1896. By using quick brushstrokes and subtle hints of charcoal, Hassam captures a fleeting moment at a street café. "Since he was adamant about finishing as much work as possible, he adjusted his method to a hurried schedule, laying down the pigment in an extremely rapid summary of strokes. Hence, the painted surfaces are often quite thin, but, at their best, possess an engaging sense of impulsiveness and striking immediacy of effect." (Childe Hassam, New York, 1994, p.109) Not only does Outside the Grand Café on the Grand Boulevard portray all of these qualities, but it strongly represents the immense talent and cultural awareness of one of the greatest American Impressionist artists of the time.

This work will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.

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