New England Headlands

1899

Childe Hassam
American, 1859–1935

This panoramic landscape depicts Gloucester, Massachusetts, one of Childe Hassam’s favorite destinations. During the summer months Gloucester was home to many artists, who, like Hassam, chose to emphasize its picturesque aspects, such as its quaint architecture and sailing vessels rather than its fish-processing plants. The composition exhibits Hassam’s broken brushwork and his use of bare canvas. Bright, saturated blues and crisp whites augment the maritime tenor of the work, while the square canvas highlights its architectonic quality and harmoniously organized space.

Status: On View, Gallery 171
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Childe Hassam
Title: New England Headlands
Place: Gloucester (Place depicted)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1899
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed, lower left: "Childe Hassam 1899"
Dimensions: 68.9 × 68.9 cm (27 1/8 × 27 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Walter H. Schulze Memorial Collection
Reference Number: 1930.349
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/5349/manifest.json

“The Walter H. Schulze Memorial,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 24 (1930), p. 79 (ill.).
Frederick A. Sweet, The Walter Schulze Gallery of American Paintings (Art Institute of Chicago, 1943), p. 14 (ill.).
“‘New England Headlands’: A Painting by Childe Hassam,” Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 17, 1947, p. 1 of The Home Forum Section, ill.
Milo M. Naeve, Classical Presence in American Art (Art Institute of Chicago, 1978), p. 34, no. 45.
Judith A. Barter et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2011), no. 64.

Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1– Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 561.
Tucson, Museum of Art, University of Arizona, Childe Hassam, 1859–1935, cat. 51; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Mar. 26–Apr. 30, 1972.
Richmond, Virginia Museum, American Marine Painting, Sept. 27–Oct. 31, 1976, cat. 55, as New England Headlands.
Albi, France, Musee Toulouse–Lautrec, Tresors Impressionistes du Musee de Chicago, June 27–Aug. 31, 1980, cat. 45.

Macbeth Galleries, New York City, by 1919; Paul Schulze, Chicago, from 1919 to 1930; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1930.

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