Childe Hassam
The Golf Links
Dated 1926

About the Item

Childe Hassam 1859-1935 American The Golf Links Oil on canvas board Signed, located and dated "Childe Hassam / Easthampton / Oct 7th 1926" (lower right) Widely regarded as the foremost American Impressionist painter, the incomparable Childe Hassam captures the calm tranquility of the golf course in this extraordinary oil on canvas laid down on board, complete with the original frame designed by Hassam himself. The work is representative of the artist’s enduring attachment to East Hampton, a picturesque village in Long Island, New York. His fascination led him to spend most summers in the seaside town during the last two decades of his life — it was during one of these visits in 1926 that he composed the present scene. The idyllic village, with its meadows, gardens, beaches and grand old houses, inspired some of the best works of the artist’s oeuvre, and the best years of his life. As an obituary stated, “He lived with gusto, smoked a pipe, played golf, kept a good cellar, buffeted the East Hampton surf with a great, bronzed body, and worked joyously until his last illness.” With an impressionistic eye, Hassam captures here the nuances of color and light on the “green” with an array of hues — greens, blues, yellows and purples all form the expanse. The cool-toned tranquility of the course is echoed in Hassam’s exquisitely rendered sky. Soft, cotton-like clouds hover above the indistinct horizon line; their blue-grey tones and rolling brushstrokes give the pictorial sky a shimmer of movement. He weaves together different textures and tones in a single, bold brushstroke, creating a scene that is cohesive yet ethereal. The subject of this work is the Maidstone Club, an exclusive private club in East Hampton, New York, established in 1891. A pioneer of American Impressionism, Hassam’s distinctly American subjects are both nostalgic and vibrant, and today are considered among the best of turn-of-the-century American art. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Hassam began his artistic career as a freelance illustrator, working for nationwide publications such as Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s Monthly, and The Century. His first solo exhibition of watercolors took place in Boston in 1883, and he quickly catapulted onto the international scene, winning a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. Upon his return from Paris, his work took on the distinctly impressionistic style for which he is today so beloved. A true master, Hassam depicted a way of life characteristic of both American and French society, and his work elucidates an important chapter in American history. Today, his work resides in numerous important museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others. This painting will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work. Dated 1926 Panel: 10 3/8” high x 12 5/8” wide Frame: 16 3/4” high x 19 1/4” wide Provenance: Senator William Benton, Southport, Connecticut Thence by descent in the family Private Collection References: Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, 2004, by H.B. Weinberg and E. Barker

Creator:
Childe Hassam (1859-1935, American)
Creation Year:
Dated 1926
Dimensions:
Height: 16.75 in (42.55 cm)Width: 19.25 in (48.9 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Movement & Style:
Impressionist
Period:
Early 20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New Orleans, LA
Reference Number:
Seller: 31-47051stDibs: LU1869454192
View Invoice

Shop All Childe Hassam

Childe Hassam

Childe Hassam was one of the most prolific American Impressionist painters of his day, creating more than 3,000 works of art. In addition to his love of urban scenes, Hassam is known for his portraits, landscapes and figurative paintings. He enjoyed a successful career, commercial popularity and critical acclaim, cementing an enduring legacy in American art.

Hassam was born in 1859 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, as Frederick Childe Hassam. As a teenager, he apprenticed in an engraver’s workshop but later started working as an illustrator. Hassam took a life drawing class at the Boston Art Club and an anatomy class at the Lowell Institute. In 1883, he embarked on a journey to Europe, where he began producing watercolor paintings.

Hassam returned to Boston in 1884 and married Kathleen Maude Doane. In 1886, the couple traveled to Paris together, where Hassam studied at the Academie Julian and exhibited his work at the Parisian salons. They returned to America in 1889 and took up residence in New York City.

Along with Boston and Paris, New York City featured heavily in Hassam's urban paintings. Among his most famous works is Avenue of the Allies, Great Britain, representing Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

Beginning in the 1890s, Hassam spent summers painting throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. He earned numerous accolades and exhibited at museums across the country by the turn of the century. In 1915, he turned his attention to prints and etchings.

Before he died in 1935, Hassam gifted the paintings in his studio to the American Academy of Arts and Letters with instructions that they be sold and the funds used to purchase American works. Today, his art is held in numerous museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

In 2016, the “Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas” exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden featured Hassam’s Celia Thaxter's Garden, Isles of Shoals, Maine among its showcase of American impressionist masters.

On 1stDibs, find original Childe Hassam prints, paintings, watercolor paintings and more.