Hassam - "Bleak House, Broadstairs" American Impressionist watercolor painting of woman reading a book walking along the water's edge in the city

Frederick Childe Hassam • American (1859-1935)

Bleak House, Broadstairs C: 1889 • Watercolor on Paper 13-1/2” x 9-3/4”

Frederick Childe Hassam was a contrarian whose fate was cast in flames. His father manufactured cutlery in a building on Washington Street in downtown Boston, almost next door to the historic Old South Meetinghouse. As firemen frantically worked to save Old South. Hassam Brothers became one of the last buildings lost to the inferno. If the business had survived, Childe would have spent the rest of his life making razors and supplying the U.S. Army with bayonets. Instead, he had to go to work to help support the family. His father found him a job in the accounting department of book publisher, Little Brown & Company. There he quickly displayed such a poor aptitude for numbers, his father finally relented allowing him to pursue life as an artist. For the rest of his life, Childe displayed prodigious work habits and a refusal to follow the paths others set for him.

Formal training was not his thing. With innate talent and a few courses in figure painting, he worked as a wood engraver before earning a living as a free-lance illustrator. His idea of education was to join a fellow Boston Art Club member on a European study trip in the summer of 1883. Returning to Boston he married Kathleen Doane and fell in with a group of progressive American artists intent on painting the world around them rather than still lives and models.

By 1889, Hassam was situated well enough to afford a trip to Paris where he and Kathleen ended up living in Renoir’s old apartment and studio in the center of the Parisian art community. There he found some small oil painting studies scattered about the studio. “I did not know anything about Renoir or care anything about Renoir. I looked at these experiments in pure color and saw it was what I was trying to do myself.”

In Paris, Hassam took one more stab at formal training with drawing classes at the Academie Julian. He soon left, feeling that “academic training crushes all originality out of growing men. It tends to put them in a rut and it keeps them in it.”

Childe Hassam would follow his own path forward. As one reviewer commented: “It is refreshing to note that Mr. Hassam, in the midst of so many good, bad and indifferent art currents, seems to be paddling his own canoe.” By the time Childe and Kathleen returned to America he had developed a distinctive style that married French Impressionism to American sensibilities.

(story continues below break)

INTERESTING STORIES FROM OUR SPONSORS

Settling in New York City, Hassam turned out paintings at a ferocious pace and became a well-known chronicler of the city, its horse-drawn carriages and trolleys. Works like, Fifth Avenue in Winter and Washington Arch in Spring showed his style evolving as he began to pursue the notion of “humanity in motion.” Bleak House, Broadstairs was an early entry in this pursuit.

By the age of 38, Hassam had established a successful art career, was a favorite of modern art dealers, had traveled the world twice over, established an urban studio on New York’s famed Fifth Avenue and enjoyed summers in the Hamptons. It wasn’t enough.

Joining with close friend John Henry Twachtman and others, he withdrew from membership in the Society of American Artists because it had become too devoted to the business of art rather than its creation. Although the original renegades numbered 12, and 11 were in the initial show, the group became known as The Ten. Remember, Hassam never was very good with numbers.

He was, however, a master with brush in hand and his Flag series of paintings, showing flag-draped New York streets, gave a jolt to the later exhibitions of The Ten. This series was modeled on the Preparedness Parade that passed by Hassam’s Fifth Avenue studio window at the beginning of WWI.

When the novelty of The Ten wore off, Hassam found himself a man out of step with his times. Horse-drawn carriages gave way to loud automobiles and skyscrapers gave New York City a colder, more modern feel. Eventually he bought a home in East Hampton and became a country painter. Even trips back to Paris became a bore as automobiles took over the city.

In the end, Hassam developed a healthy dislike for modern art trends, denouncing Cubists, Surrealists, and the like as “art boobys.” If the world of art was heading in that direction, Childe Hassam was going another way.

In 1935 Frederick Childe Hassam died in his East Hampton home, a painter who did it his way till the very end.

82 years after his death, the Canton Museum of Art, who had long been looking to add a Hassam to their collection, purchased Bleak House, Broadstairs. During conversations with Jim Keny of Keny Galleries in Columbus, the idea of exhibiting works by other American Impressionists began to form. Eventually it became one of the most significant exhibitions ever shown by the museum.

Dancing in the Light, Masterworks from the Age of Impressionism will be on display through March 7, 2021. You’ll find Childe Hassam’s work at the very center of the exhibition, where it belongs.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Purchased by The Canton Museum of Art, 2017.83

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“Hassam was one of the founders of a group of American Impressionists known as ‘The Ten.’ However, the original group numbered 12 and 11 exhibited at their first show. Hassam was never good with numbers.”

2.
“Upon meeting the poet Celia Thaxter on Appledore Island, he began incorporating a small crescent before his signature in tribute to a poem she’d written equating the crescent moon with his emerging fame. Later the crescent was shortened to a slash.”

3.
“His most famous works were a series of paintings showing the flag-decorated streets of New York. He was first inspired by the Preparedness Parade down Fifth Avenue at the beginning of WWI, just like actor George Cohan.”

4.
“Although viewed as a modernist in his time, he considered the cubists and surrealists who followed to be “art booby’s.” It’s the art equivalent of ‘Get Off Of My Lawn!’”

Hassam Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1859

Born in Boston. His father was proprietor of Hassam Brothers, a cutlery manufacturing business he ran with his brother. Mother, Rosa, was a native of Maine.

1872

The Great Boston Fire destroyed his father’s business. Young Frederick (he became Childe later) had to leave high school to go to work in the accounting department of Little Brown & Company, book publishers. He had no aptitude for numbers.

1873

His father gave in to his son’s wishes to pursue an art career. Young Hassam went to work for George Johnson, a wood engraver.

1879

Began painting his first oil and watercolors, mostly landscapes.

1882

Became a “black-and-white man”, a trade term for freelance illustrators of the day. Attended drawing classes at the Lowell Institute and Life Painting classes at the Boston Art Club. Had his first exhibit at Williams and Everett Gallery in Boston.

1883

Embarked on a study tour of Europe with fellow Boston Art Club member, Edmund Garrett. Was particular captivated by the Romantic landscapes of JMW Turner.

1884

Returned to America and married Kathleen Doane. Staged his second exhibition with the 64 works he created in Europe.

1885

Painted his first well-known piece, “Boston Commons at Twilight.”

1887

Returned to Paris with wife, Kathleen. They chose to stay away from the many American artists, preferring the company of local artists. He took some classes at the Academie Julian, but found them stifling.

1888

Moved into the apartment and studio of famed Impressionist, Auguste Renoir, although he didn’t know anything about him. Found some small studies scattered about the studio that mirrored his own color experiments.

1889

Journeyed to England where he painted “Bleak House, Broadstairs.” Returned to America where he and Kathleen settled in New York City.

1890s

Spent summers on Appledore Island, an artists enclave off the coast of New Hampshire. Also made a series of summer painting excursions throughout New England.

1895

With Kathleen he traveled through Italy and France taking time to study the Old Masters, although he remained in the Impressionists camp.

1897

Back in New York he took part in the secession of Impressionists from the Society of American Artists, forming a new society known as The Ten.

1906

Elected an academician of the National Academy of Design. Dedicated himself to a healthier lifestyle after a period of depression.

1907

Began traveling every summer, dubbing himself the “Marco Polo of Painters.”

1908

Visited and painted Oregon, producing over 100 works.

1910

Visited Paris, finding it much changed. He painted “July Fourteenth, Rue Daunou” during Bastille Day celebrations. This became a forerunner of his Flag Series.

1916

Began his famous Flag Series after watching the Preparedness Parade down Fifth Avenue as America entered WWI.

1919

Somewhat appalled by modern city life, he purchased a home in East Hampton where he spent the rest of his life. Despised modern art trends such as Cubism and Surrealism which he denounced as “art booby’s.”

1935

Died at his home in East Hampton, a painter until the end.