Childe Hassam

Childe Hassam was an American painter and a leading figure of American Impressionism. Born in Massachusetts in 1859, he adopted the bright color and broken brushwork of the French Impressionists and applied them to American subjects. He is famous for lively scenes of New York and Boston streets and for luminous garden pictures painted on an island off the coast of New England.

During the First World War he painted a celebrated series showing flags fluttering along the avenues of New York, images bursting with color and patriotic energy. Enormously productive, he helped popularize Impressionism in the United States. Hassam's sparkling city scenes and sun-drenched gardens have made him one of the best loved American painters of his era.