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Childe Hassam was a pioneer of American Impressionism. Like that of French Impressionists, his work focused on the interactions of light and weather, and elements of movement – depicting scenes in Boston, New York, and the New England countryside and coastline. Hassam was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1859. His career began when his father’s hardware store burned to the ground, and Hassam left school to work as a wood engraver. In 1876, he apprenticed to a local wood-engraver, and soon after worked as a freelance illustrator. To advance his skills he took evening classes at the Boston Art Club, Lowell Institute and private lessons with Ignaz Gaugengigl. In 1883, Hassam and Edmund H. Garrett, a painter and friend, traveled through Great Britain and Europe. While abroad, Hassam painted many watercolors that were exhibited in Boston later that year. When he returned from Europe, Hassam married Kathleen Maude Doane. After establishing himself and his practice in Boston, they went to Paris where Hassam would study for three years in 1886. He studied with Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre at the Académie Julian and the work he created was exhibited in the Salons of 1887 and 1888. Hassam was among the minority of other American artists with his interest in French Impressionism. Hassam took his studies in France seriously, immersing himself in the classes and visits to the Louvre. Many of his paintings of the countryside and scenes of Paris were well received by French critics and in 1889, he received a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition and later a silver medal at the Munich International Art Exposition in 1892. In 1889, Hassam and his wife returned to New York where he joined the Pastel Society of New York and aided in the founding of the New York Watercolor Club.

By this time, Impressionism was finally gaining momentum in the United States. The movement had been scoffed at for years until J. Alden Weir joined and exhibited his work in a one man show at the Blakeslee Gallery. It was then that the country began to take Impressionism seriously. Hassam became close friends with Weir and John Henry Twachtman through the Watercolor Society. Theodore Robinson, another American artist, was their continued connection to France as he worked both in France and America. He kept the four of them in touch with Monet, who was working in Giverny at the time. These four artists upheld the core principles of American Impressionism – emphasizing light and shadow, creating outdoors when possible, and embracing the movement of life around them.

After returning to New York, Hassam’s zeal for the city was strong. He painted the urban atmosphere around him. In an interview, during this time, Hassam spoke about why he painted these street scenes: “I sketch these things because I believe them to be aesthetic and fitting subjects for pictures. There is nothing so interesting to me as people. I am never tired of observing them in every-day life, as they hurry through the streets on business or saunter down the promenade on pleasure. Humanity in motion is a continual study to me.” Upon his return to New York, Hassam began to exhibit with the Society of American Artists. He remained in the group until 1897 until he withdrew, joining Weir to found the group that would be known as The Ten. The Ten were a group of ten American artists who painted in the Impressionist style. First exhibiting work together in 1898, The Ten helped to infuse society with American Impressionism, all choosing to exhibit together and independently from the large annual exhibitions of the Society of American Artists and the National Academy of Design. The group included Childe Hassam, John Henry Twachtman, J. Alden Weir, Thomas W. Dewing, Joseph De Camp, Frank W. Benson, Willard Leroy Metcalf, Edmund Tarbell, Robert Reid, and E.E. Simmons.

Hassam’s work had matured and he approached Impressionism with a confidence and unique style. He honed his skills in pointillism, closely approaching Monet’s mastery of the technique. Hassam’s brushwork was a balance of control and gesture.

Hassam painted many locations throughout New England during his life. He especially enjoyed Old Lyme, Connecticut, Appledore, and the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire. It was in these locations that he created some of his most well-known works. Around 1920, East Hampton, Long Island became the Hassam’s permanent summer home. Hassam won numerous awards during his life, exhibited at established museums and by 1933 had a catalogue raisonné of his intaglio prints detailing 376 different plates. Hassam believed in investing in the future of American art and before his death, arranged to bequeath all of his remaining works to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, to be sold to create a fund for the purchase of American artworks. Childe Hassam died in East Hampton in 1935, at the age of 75.