Childe Hassam

Adelson Galleries, New York

Acquired from the above in May 1995 by the present owner

New York, Adelson Galleries, Childe Hassam: An American Impressionist, 1999, no. 48, p. 61, illustrated

Warren Adelson, Jay Cantor and William Gerdts, Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, pl. 42, p. 43, illustrated in color

Childe Hassam established a reputation as one of America’s leading Impressionist painters through his expressive depictions of the New York and Parisian milieu, documenting urban modernity domestically and abroad with intense color and fluid brushstrokes. In stark contrast to his bustling urban subjects, Hassam spent his summers in quaint New England towns, capturing the serenity and natural

Newport, October Sundown dates to Hassam’s 1901 visit to the small New England town. Although Hassam visited Gloucester and the Isles of Shoals repeatedly throughout his career, this is the artist’s only recorded extended visit to Newport and one of seven large-scale oils that resulted from the trip. Rendered from the adjacent Goat Island, Hassam offers a glimpse into Newport Harbor, his fleeting brushstrokes providing the impression of glimmering water between the anchored sailboats. The spire of Trinity Church interrupts the warm sun as it sets on the quiet Rhode Island hamlet. Several of Hassam’s most successful Newport subjects now reside in museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, making the present work a rare instance from this 1901 moment in Hassam’s career still held in private hands.

When fellow artist Guy Pène du Bois saw Newport, October Sundown, he called it “a captivating bit of impressionism” (“The Ten Americans Have Their Exhibit,” New York American, 18 March 1908, p. 10). With its energetic brushwork and light-drenched palette, Hassam showcases his indebtedness to the French tradition and the influence of his years living abroad in the 1880s. From 1886-89, Hassam studied at the Académie Julian, where he honed his craft among the leading painters of the late nineteenth century. Hassam’s early twentieth century subjects boast a heightened warmth and expressiveness previously unseen in his Boston-based oeuvre; however, in spite of the influence that Paris had on his practice, he returned to America in October of 1889 encouraged by the sense of belonging he felt in New York and the surrounding region. “I never had any desire to remain permanently on the other side. America represented to me the highest opportunity,” Hassam explained (p. 87 2004, fn 1).

Operating primarily out of Manhattan in the 1890s and early 1900s, Hassam alternated working months in the city with excursions to nearby coastal towns in the warmer months. Rather than concentrate on the new luxurious Newport mansions along Cliff Walk, he focused on the town’s historic region facing the harbor, as seen in the present work. For the Boston-raised artist, the Newport harbor was reminiscent of the waterfront charm of his own home state. He fondly recalled his upbringing in saying, “Dorchester was a most beautiful and pleasant place for a boy to grow up.” He continued, “Boston harbor with the white sails and the blue water of our clear and radiant North American weather, that electric and living quality of clear blue of certain times of the year could not be surpassed anywhere” (Childe Hassam, in an unpublished note dated 1934). Small coastal towns such as Newport, to Hassam, represented quintessential American values and inspired some of his brightest, most enticing paintings of the twentieth century.

Painting on unprimed canvases with the pigment “perfectly clear out of the tube,” Hassam achieved the purity of color and vibrancy achieved in Newport, October Sundown (Childe Hassam: American Impressionist, p. 88, fn 27). His works from this period are densely saturated with layered pigments to achieve highly complex color and texture. Horizontal brushstrokes cast the viewer’s eyes across the harbor-facing structures, while red flecks of paint in the water mirror the heat of the rapidly setting sun. Celebrated during his lifetime for his “national integrity” and ability to paint distinctly “American pictures,” works such as Newport, October Sundown showcase Hassam’s strength as an Impressionist painter and long lasting influence on the American art landscape. Newport, October Sundown has resided in the same esteemed private collection for exactly thirty years. Its first appearance at public auction celebrates a unique moment within Hassam’s prolific career, in which the beauty of Newport, Rhode Island captivated his attention.