拍品专文
New York at the turn of the century was entering the modern age. Along with the burgeoning population, there was a dramatic increase in construction of new monumental buildings such as the Waldorf Astoria (1893) , the Knickerbocker Trust and Safe Deposit Building and the Flat Iron Building (1902). Hassam, whose intense fascination with the city and its people have always been central to his works, bore witness to many of the changes that altered the topography of the city. His more intimate views of old New York from the early 1890s gave way to elevated, sweeping vistas that became not a tribute to the modern age but a visual amalgamation of the artist beloved old New York and the emergence of the new New York. Church of the Paulist Fathers from 1907 poignantly illustrates Hassam's bittersweet relationship with the rapidly changing environment in which he lived.
By 1907, Hassam no longer resided in the genteel neighborhood of lower Fifth Avenue, but had moved to a studio located at 27 West 67th Street, an area that enabled the artist to witness first hand the city's fast paced growth. Church of the Paulist Fathers, inspired by the view seen outside of Hassam's studio window is part of a series of works executed from this vantage point which includes such well known canvases as The Hovel and the Skyscraper (1904, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer Potamkin). The panoramic view illustrated in the present work portrays the Church of the Paulist Fathers, erected in 1876-85, located at Ninth Avenue between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets, the original Empire Hotel, identified by its large domed tower, located between West Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Streets between Broadway and Columbus Avenue over looking Lincoln Square and the First Battery National Guard Armory, built by Horgan and Slattery in 1901, the brick structure with a crenellated rooftop displaying an unfurled American Flag in the foreground.
The view which Hassam depicts in Church of the Paulist Fathers is not merely a documentation of the various structures found outside his window, but a reaction to the constantly changing and vibrant skyline of New York. The Nineteenth century Gothic church looming in the background represents a part of old New York that withstood the rapid transformation of the city and stands in contrast to the surrounding newer structures. William Gerdts has noted that "churches were a significant affective element in the urban landscape, representing the city's antiquity; representing tradition and continuity..." (Impressionist New York, New York, 1994, p. 107) The Empire Hotel and the First Battery National Guard Armory superficially hark back to nostalgic architecture, but in actuality are emblems of new and advanced structural engineering.
Hassam throughout his career remained respectfully at a distance from the subjects he was painting. Similar to his veneered depictions of the anonymous throngs of people he portrayed at street level, Hassam denied the ugly realities of urban life in his depictions of the New York skyline. Through an elevated view, Hassam removes himself physically and visually from the gritty truths of modern life and creates a scenic vista that through color, light and atmosphere becomes an array of various aesthetic shapes and forms coexisting in harmony. In Church of the Paulist Fathers, Hassam celebrates the picturesque qualities of the varying styles of architecture and sees in these building a visual continuity. The crenellated tower of the Armory, the domed tower of the hotel and the far reaching spires of the church exist separately, but interact naturally as a series of visual motifs. Hassam, through his choice of spirited color, energized brush stroke and crisp summer light, unifies the image so that it transforms into an elegant city portrait not too unlike his portrayals of the stylishly clad pedestrians of Fifth Avenue. A few years after the Church of Paulist Fathers was completed, Hassam in an interview from 1913 revealed his feeling towards New York: "The portrait of a city, you see, is in a way like a portrait of a person--the difficulty is to catch not only the superficial resemblance but the inner self. The spirit, that's what counts, and one should strive to portray the soul of a city with the same care as the soul of a sitter." ("New York, the Beauty City," The Sun, Feb. 23, 1913, sec. 4, p. 16) Hassam's Church of the Paulist Fathers poignantly reveals the soul of the city: the continuity of change.
Though the Church of the Paulist Fathers remains today, the surrounding area has been almost completely redeveloped since 1907 and is now the site of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The old Empire Hotel was demolished in 1922 and the Armory is now the home of the American Broadcasting Company.
This painting will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonn of the artist's work.
By 1907, Hassam no longer resided in the genteel neighborhood of lower Fifth Avenue, but had moved to a studio located at 27 West 67th Street, an area that enabled the artist to witness first hand the city's fast paced growth. Church of the Paulist Fathers, inspired by the view seen outside of Hassam's studio window is part of a series of works executed from this vantage point which includes such well known canvases as The Hovel and the Skyscraper (1904, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer Potamkin). The panoramic view illustrated in the present work portrays the Church of the Paulist Fathers, erected in 1876-85, located at Ninth Avenue between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets, the original Empire Hotel, identified by its large domed tower, located between West Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Streets between Broadway and Columbus Avenue over looking Lincoln Square and the First Battery National Guard Armory, built by Horgan and Slattery in 1901, the brick structure with a crenellated rooftop displaying an unfurled American Flag in the foreground.
The view which Hassam depicts in Church of the Paulist Fathers is not merely a documentation of the various structures found outside his window, but a reaction to the constantly changing and vibrant skyline of New York. The Nineteenth century Gothic church looming in the background represents a part of old New York that withstood the rapid transformation of the city and stands in contrast to the surrounding newer structures. William Gerdts has noted that "churches were a significant affective element in the urban landscape, representing the city's antiquity; representing tradition and continuity..." (Impressionist New York, New York, 1994, p. 107) The Empire Hotel and the First Battery National Guard Armory superficially hark back to nostalgic architecture, but in actuality are emblems of new and advanced structural engineering.
Hassam throughout his career remained respectfully at a distance from the subjects he was painting. Similar to his veneered depictions of the anonymous throngs of people he portrayed at street level, Hassam denied the ugly realities of urban life in his depictions of the New York skyline. Through an elevated view, Hassam removes himself physically and visually from the gritty truths of modern life and creates a scenic vista that through color, light and atmosphere becomes an array of various aesthetic shapes and forms coexisting in harmony. In Church of the Paulist Fathers, Hassam celebrates the picturesque qualities of the varying styles of architecture and sees in these building a visual continuity. The crenellated tower of the Armory, the domed tower of the hotel and the far reaching spires of the church exist separately, but interact naturally as a series of visual motifs. Hassam, through his choice of spirited color, energized brush stroke and crisp summer light, unifies the image so that it transforms into an elegant city portrait not too unlike his portrayals of the stylishly clad pedestrians of Fifth Avenue. A few years after the Church of Paulist Fathers was completed, Hassam in an interview from 1913 revealed his feeling towards New York: "The portrait of a city, you see, is in a way like a portrait of a person--the difficulty is to catch not only the superficial resemblance but the inner self. The spirit, that's what counts, and one should strive to portray the soul of a city with the same care as the soul of a sitter." ("New York, the Beauty City," The Sun, Feb. 23, 1913, sec. 4, p. 16) Hassam's Church of the Paulist Fathers poignantly reveals the soul of the city: the continuity of change.
Though the Church of the Paulist Fathers remains today, the surrounding area has been almost completely redeveloped since 1907 and is now the site of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The old Empire Hotel was demolished in 1922 and the Armory is now the home of the American Broadcasting Company.
This painting will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonn of the artist's work.