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拍品专文
Childe Hassam’s series depicting flags in the midst of World War I are among the most poignant and celebrated works of American Impressionism, enveloping the revered themes of democracy and liberty. Initially inspired by the patriotic celebrations held in New York City along Fifth Avenue at the onset of the war, Hassam created his poignant flag paintings between 1916 and 1919. Sixteen examples are housed in prominent museum collections, notably including The White House, the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. As Dr. William H. Gerdts has noted, “Hassam was already recognized as one of the artists most identified with ‘Americanness,’ but it was in these works that he was able to give the modern cityscape patriotic and spiritual resonance. This pictorial sequence constitutes one of the greatest achievements of American art.” (Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, p. 222)
Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919 represents one of the final, quieter examples of Hassam’s iconic flag subject, expressively celebrating the enduring American spirit during the nation’s annual celebration of independence each July. Reflecting a return to calm in the wake of the war, the painting echoes the more intimate atmosphere of Hassam’s first ever flag painting, Just Off the Avenue, Fifty-Third Street, May 1916 (Private Collection; Sold at Christie’s, New York, 23 May 2017 for $2,407,500), in which the artist showed a quiet street a few blocks from his New York studio with two flags hanging and a lone working man in the foreground. With a very similar composition, Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919 can be seen as a denouement of Hassam’s flag cycle as he returns back to its original peaceful atmosphere.
The artist also returns in this painting to the city of his early career, Boston. Hassam depicts Acorn Street, the picturesque, cobblestoned lane in Beacon Hill, which remains to this day one of the most photographed streets in America. The location is just a short walk from the home where Hassam lived at 282 Columbus Avenue in the 1880s soon after his marriage. The scene reminisces not only on simpler times for the artist, but also for America, with its well-preserved 1820s façades creating a nostalgia for the century prior.
While traditional in subject, Hassam’s watercolor is compellingly modern in execution. As Gerdts describes, “In Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919…the chalky application of paint and the broad brushwork are Post-Impressionist in spirit and execution.” (Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, p. 67) Hassam’s depiction of the brick rowhouses and their blue shutters utilizes gestural, broken brushwork, which reveals the underlying sheet of paper. The result echoes the red, white and blue of the billowing flags that dominate the composition at center, and furthermore creates a sense of dynamism that permeates the otherwise still street. His technique also underscores the optimism of his subject; the lighter palette of the sun-lit building in the distance draws the eye, and suggests a light at the end of the long tunnel that had been the war years.
As Gerdts summarizes, “Childe Hassam's passion for his country in its rural and urban incarnations had been the dominant theme of his long career. His patriotism was not unique among his peers, but his expression of it was always his own.” (Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, p. 68) Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919 marries his most celebrated iconography of flags with a strikingly engaging iteration of Hassam’s renowned Impressionist technique to create a work that fully celebrates the endurance and ingenuity of the American people.
Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919 represents one of the final, quieter examples of Hassam’s iconic flag subject, expressively celebrating the enduring American spirit during the nation’s annual celebration of independence each July. Reflecting a return to calm in the wake of the war, the painting echoes the more intimate atmosphere of Hassam’s first ever flag painting, Just Off the Avenue, Fifty-Third Street, May 1916 (Private Collection; Sold at Christie’s, New York, 23 May 2017 for $2,407,500), in which the artist showed a quiet street a few blocks from his New York studio with two flags hanging and a lone working man in the foreground. With a very similar composition, Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919 can be seen as a denouement of Hassam’s flag cycle as he returns back to its original peaceful atmosphere.
The artist also returns in this painting to the city of his early career, Boston. Hassam depicts Acorn Street, the picturesque, cobblestoned lane in Beacon Hill, which remains to this day one of the most photographed streets in America. The location is just a short walk from the home where Hassam lived at 282 Columbus Avenue in the 1880s soon after his marriage. The scene reminisces not only on simpler times for the artist, but also for America, with its well-preserved 1820s façades creating a nostalgia for the century prior.
While traditional in subject, Hassam’s watercolor is compellingly modern in execution. As Gerdts describes, “In Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919…the chalky application of paint and the broad brushwork are Post-Impressionist in spirit and execution.” (Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, p. 67) Hassam’s depiction of the brick rowhouses and their blue shutters utilizes gestural, broken brushwork, which reveals the underlying sheet of paper. The result echoes the red, white and blue of the billowing flags that dominate the composition at center, and furthermore creates a sense of dynamism that permeates the otherwise still street. His technique also underscores the optimism of his subject; the lighter palette of the sun-lit building in the distance draws the eye, and suggests a light at the end of the long tunnel that had been the war years.
As Gerdts summarizes, “Childe Hassam's passion for his country in its rural and urban incarnations had been the dominant theme of his long career. His patriotism was not unique among his peers, but his expression of it was always his own.” (Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, p. 68) Acorn Street, Boston, July 1919 marries his most celebrated iconography of flags with a strikingly engaging iteration of Hassam’s renowned Impressionist technique to create a work that fully celebrates the endurance and ingenuity of the American people.