Book Description
Childe Hassam (1859--1935) created an immense body of work in the Impressionist style, comprising oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints. His distinctive and enchanting images, with their focus on effects of color and light, are widely admired and are included in the collections of every major museum in the United States.In this handsomely illustrated book, the authors, all experts in the field, take a fresh look at Hassam's responses to his vibrant and complicated era. Their texts study his striking portrayals of cities and country sites in America and Europe. Also explored are his late works-those completed after 1900-when Hassam felt increasingly challenged by both modern life and modern art. These include tranquil interior vignettes, iconic images of New England churches, and his great Flag series. Hassam's life and career in Boston, New York, Paris, New England, and East Hampton as well as his travels are covered in fresh and insightful chapters. Essays on more specific subjects focus on Hassam's pride in his ancestry; his interest in architecture, gardens and allegorical themes; his accomplishments as a watercolorist and printmaker; his frames; the marketing of his art; and the contemporary critical response to it. The book, which also contains a chronology of Hassam's career and a comprehensive exhibition chronology, accompanies the first major museum retrospective of Hassam's works since 1972. Childe Hassam, American Impressionist examines this great artist's work in the context of his credo that "the man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of every-day life around him." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Sandy K. on Hassam
I discovered Hassam at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth last year.I was especially attracted to his flag paintings since I am a retired U. S. History teacher.I can highly recommend this book.It is both thorough and quite visually attractive and, of course, Amazon has the very best price!!

Childe Hassam American Impressionist
This book is an excellent read and provides ample pictures for immense enjoyment. Through Amazon I was able to purchase the book for nearly half the price compared to anywhere else. Thanks Amazon!

Excellent book on Childe Hassam!
Excellent book for the student, collector, dealer or art historian interested in Childe Hassam! As one of America's foremost buyers of Childe Hassam paintings, I highly recommend this book. www.LawrenceBeebe.com

An essential addition to American Impressionist literature
My feelings about this book mirror the feelings I had when I attended the exhibition this catalogue is drawn from. I had the pleasure of seeing the Childe Hassam retrospective in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004; it was one of the few times that I have seen total strangers turn to one another at an exhibition this size and speak with each other about their mutual amazement for the artist's technique. I knew a bit about Impressionism, and a bit about American artists such as Whistler and Cassatt who were influenced by Impressionism. But I didn't know anything about Hassam. Who was this wonderful artist and why didn't my college courses in modern art teach me about him?

I wanted to learn as much as I could, and this book provided me with the answers to both questions. Childe Hassam was the essential link between the Impressionism of Paris and later American descendants of the genre. He was a proud and gifted man who, like most giants, contained giant-sized paradoxes. He steadfastly denied the influence of Monet while clearly celebrating that influence in his cityscapes. He championed the spirit of the growing spirit of New York City while denying its increasingly immigrant population. In the end, like so many greats, he was an anachronism and ignored by the younger avant-garde. After reading and rereading this immensively informative book, I had a good idea of both who Hassam was and why modern art scholars have trouble with his standing among his peers. He's a complicated person, but aren't all great artists?

The illustrations in this book, as you'd expect, are not only first rate but complete. We are treated not only to full-page accurately colored reproductions but also to many enlarged details of the same paintings. All the paintings from the exhibition along with many that were notare reproduced here,and several paintings by Monet and Degas are included for comparisons. The writing style is largely academic, but I think most of this book would be accessible to anyone who loves to read and isn't easily discouraged by long blocks of text. This isn't an oversized picture book, but an indepth examination of Hassam that places him in the context of the early 20th Century.

If you enjoy Impressionism and the roots of modern art, and you have a penchant for learning all you can about some of the relatively forgotten figures from that time, you will not only add this book to your collection but cherish it.

A MEMORABLE IMPRESSIONIST




While many books have been published featuring the work of famed American Impressionist Childe Hassam, few offer such stunning illustrations and none trace so completely the many years Hassam spent marketing his art. He lived the statement he made in 1892: "I believe the man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of every-day life around him."

Paint those scenes he did - who is not moved by his depictions of the red, white and blue flags and banners flying from the tallest buildings in New York City at the onset of World War I? It's clear that Hassam loved New York and painted it in all its many faces - summer, autumn, winter and spring.

The artist also spent a great deal of time in New England where he captured quaint villages and fabled East Hampton interiors. Adept at both urban and rural scenes, Hassam studied in Paris where, it's believed, he first became acquainted with the eye catching French Impressionism. He brought much of what he had learned to America, where he would become one of the most prolific practitioners of American Impressionism.

H. Barbara Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has done a superb job of selecting the 374 illustrations included in this luxe volume as well as penning engaging and informative accompanying texts.

"Childe Hassam: American Impressionist" will be treasured by not only art aficionados but by Americans as well as they come to realize the enormous contribution Hassam made to bolstering pride in our country.

- Gail Cooke ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Too Sketchy
Who was Childe Hassam and who is Ulrich Hiesinger? I'm not sure and I have no idea. I looked all over this book and I couldn't find even a brief biographical sketch of Mr. Hiesinger. Is he a journalist or an artist or aprofessor? I suppose I will never know. I do know a bit more about ChildeHassam. For one thing, his first name was really Frederick. There are somepretty extensive excerpts from letters that he wrote and he was anopinionated fellow, so you do get to know a little bit about him. He likedAmerican artists and did not care much for European artists. He thoughtvery highly of himself.... I wanted to know more about the soul of the manbut in that I was disappointed. The book is too much of a travelogue andskips from place to place in New England and Europe following Hassam aroundand giving cold facts about when he was in this place and what he paintedthere. There is not enough analysis of the paintings. Mr. Hiesinger is veryvague about what he thinks makes a particular piece good or bad, exceptthat in general he seems to think that sketchy is good and highly finishedis bad. I beg to differ, by the way. Hassam obviously had a lot of talentbut he produced too much work because he depended totally on sales toprovide his living. One strong point of this book is that there are almost200 reproductions, most of them in color. It allows you to see that Hassamproduced a few great paintings and a few good ones, but also many mediocreworks. He was at his best when he was young, in my opinion as later on hetended to dash things off to maximize sales. He was obviously greatlyinfluenced by the French Impressionists although this apparently was a sorespot with him. If you want an introduction to Hassam this is worthreading. If you know that you like his work it is worth buying for the manyhigh quality plates. If you want a definitive biography, this is not thebook for you. Tantalizingly, Mr. Hiesinger mentions in a couple of placesthat Hassam apparently had a lifetime problem with alcohol. You are nevereven given a clue as to what demons were in his closet... ... Read more

Book Description
A major book on a major American impressionist.

From the late 1880s to around 1915, Childe Hassam, America's foremost impressionist, frequently visited the Isles of Shoals, the site of a summer resort popular with many American artists and writers. Paintings from Hassam's Isles of Shoals series are among the most familiar icons of late nineteenth-century American art. But until now, a comprehensive selection of these beautiful works had not been collected in one place. David Park Curry's informative text provides the background essential to a full appreciation of these works. 105 full-color reproductions and100 black-and-white photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Better than the original.....
Somewhere in one of my many boxes of books I have a copy of a reprint of the original book by Celia Thaxter, "An Island Garden". I have written a review about this book for Amazon elsewhere, and said it wasn't very good (it isn't) and received many negative votes. My major complaint about the "other" book is that you cannot see the brush strokes in the paintings. The book obviously appeals to those who care not a whit about brush strokes.

Fans of Child Hassam--this is the book you want. No, it isn't the cute little book by Thaxter. The reproductions of Childe Hassam's paintings of Celia Thaxter's island in CHILD HASSAM: AN ISLAND GARDEN REVISITED are 100 times better--and you can see the brush strokes. I can't give this book five stars, because I collect art books know the reproductions could have been better. However, the reproductions in this book are head and shoulders above those in Thaxter's book.Not only that, David Curry has included much text about life on Thaxer's island and in her famous parlor.

If you are a fan of the American Impressionist Childe Hassam, you will appreciate knowing something about the artist, his work, his friends, and his relationship with Ms. Thaxter. Most of all, you will be able to see what he painted and get an idea of where you might locate some of the originals. They are still hanging in various places such as the Walter's Gallery in Baltimore and other esoteric locations. ... Read more

Book Description
The renowned American Impressionist Childe Hassam built his reputation on light-filled images depicting the streets of New York and New England's coastal resorts. He was also known as a consummate traveler who delighted in discovering and painting new scenes and unfamiliar landscapes. In 1904 and 1908, Hassam traveled west, visiting Oregon andthe surrounding region. He was captivated by the beauty of the Northwest landscape: its rocky coast, lush valleys, forested mountains, and stark high deserts. During his sojourns in the West, he painted at least sixty images ranging from portraits and still lifes to landscapes and seascapes in oil, watercolor, and pastel.

Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West explores this significant, but little known, body of work in the context of the artist's entire oeuvre and larger developments in modern art at the turn of the century. This richly illustrated book investigates how Hassam's images of the West mirror a number of his personal and professional concerns; provides insights into technical aspects of his work, which he tended to adapt to the subject and circumstances at hand; and looks at how the West appealed to the artist's broader interests and concerns, such as his desire to create an art that was purely American in both content and style. Contributing an important chapter to the scholarship on Hassam and American Impressionism, the book includes an engaging essay by Margaret E. Bullock as well as a working catalogue of Hassam's western works known to date. Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West offers a lucid and in-depth look at this intriguing interlude in Hassam's career and the remarkable works that resulted. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great book!
As one of America's foremost buyers of Childe Hassam paintings, I can say that Warren Adelson did a superb job authoring this "must buy" book! Perfect for the student, collector, dealer or art historian. www.LawrenceBeebe.com

Flagrantly bad color rendition
This will be the first and last Abbeville Press book I buy.Most of the plates are so far off in saturation, hue, lightness values they are laughable.Where reproductions of the same Hassam paintings appear in other books , such as American Impressionists (0823002128) or California Impressionists (0915977257), they are inviting and credible; here they are repugnant.I don't think I have ever seen plates so far off norm.I see that I have the firstprinting too, so it cannot be due to long run deviations.The sound you just heard was this clunker hitting the trash can.

Impressive art, informative biography
Beautiful full-page color photos are liberal in this fine survey of Hassam's career as an important American Impressionist artist. Hassam explored Impressionist themes in a variety of mediums: many of his pictureshave been hidden in private collections until now, others are on publicdisplay. Childe Hassam, Impressionist gathers many public and privateholdings and adds a survey of the artist's life and times.

A wonderful retrospective
This book is a beautiful example of Hassam's many diverse styles.The book contains wonderful essays and photos with a chronology of Hassam's life. A great book for anyone who likes art.

A wonderful retrospective
This book is a beautiful exmple of Hassam's many diverse styles.The book contains wonderful essays and photos with a chronology of Hassam's life. A great book for anyone who likes art. ... Read more

Book Description
This catalogue includes a short biography of the important American Impressionist Childe Hassam and eight sumptuous fold out color plates. ... Read more

Book Description