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Day of allied victory, may 1917 (from the "Flags" series)

Childe Hassam • Painting, 1917, 92.7×76.8 cm
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About the artwork
Art form: Painting
Subject and objects: Urban landscape
Style of art: Impressionism
Technique: Oil
Materials: Canvas
Date of creation: 1917
Size: 92.7×76.8 cm
Artwork in selections: 14 selections

Description of the artwork «Day of allied victory, may 1917 (from the "Flags" series)»

A month after the official US entry in World war Fifth Avenue in new York was decorated with flags. In a welcoming gesture to the British and French commissioners, "stars and stripes" hung next to the British Union Jack and the French tricolor to create a Patriotic picture. Childe Hassam, an American of British descent, who studied and worked in Paris, brought a personal sense of pride in the new military Alliance.

"Allies day, may 1917" not the only picture Gassama, on this subject, but it is quickly becoming the most famous of the entire series. The artist began a series of similar paintings in 1916, when thousands of Americans demonstrated support for the allies, marching in the parade down Fifth Avenue. Driven by these and other war-related circumstances, Hassam would eventually produce about thirty landscapes of new York's streets decorated with flags. Paintings from this series go beyond the ordinary spectacles, they Express unshakable conviction Gassama in the moral and financial superiority of the United States.

Inexperienced opinion, "the day of the Allies" may seem a bad picture, but actually the picture is thought out and researched carefully. To get the optimal angle, Hassam set up his easel on the balcony of the building located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 52nd street. The flags are grouped in the right part of the canvas, creating a colorful frame for the buildings on the left side of the Avenue. In the foreground the flags of the allied Nations lined up neatly in a row to demonstrate the changing patterns, but duplicate colors. It symbolizes the harmony of the three countries United by one goal - the struggle for democracy. In this flurry of symbolic meanings is only one flag (of course) placed on top of the composition on the background of cloudless sky.

"Allies day, may 1917" depicts historical events and reflects the times and national character, but it also offers a vivid description of historic buildings on Fifth Avenue, known at that time as "millionaires row". The facades of the buildings bathed in the morning sun, the brightest of which get the latest the Church of St. Thomas, built in the Gothic revival style in the two years before the painting. The Church depicted in such a way as to encourage to the conclusion that the new Union of the United States and the Old world were received including a divine blessing. Behind the Church stands the University club, built in the style of an Italian Palazzo of the Renaissance, followed by the hotel "Gotham" (renamed "the Peninsula").

As the most Patriotic, this picture Gassama became instantly famous through the sale of its color reproductions in favor of the military. For the first time, all paintings from this series were exhibited together in four days after the victory in 1918 to show the story of American entry into the war and commemorate its end.

By the way, another picture from the series "Flags" - "Avenue in the rain" - was acquired in the permanent collection of the White house administration of President Kennedy. This picture was chosen by Barack Obama to decorate the oval officeupon accession to the presidency.

Author: Oleg Vybivaet
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