log in
Enter site
Login to use Arthive functionality to the maximum
Spring in Central Park
Childe Hassam • Painting, 1898, 74.9×95.2 cm
Description of the artwork «Spring in Central Park»
The success of Childe Hassam’s urban landscapes is largely due to his love of rich urban life and his unique approach to composition, colour, light and atmosphere. Hassam’s park scenes offer a sort of refuge much needed to rescue urban population suffering from rapid industrialization. Spring in Central Park illustrates the splendour of Impressionism, exalts the beauty of an urban oasis in the bustle of a changing city.
At the turn of the century, Central Park was the largest and most famous public park in the country. It is located in the centre of Manhattan. More than eight hundred hectares of hills, meadows and forests in the park are punctuated by ponds and lakes and cut by miles of footpaths. Central Park achieves its symbolic status as it epitomizes the antidote to the unceremoniously invading modern world.
Depicting the wildly blooming spring, Hassam put in the foreground a nanny who walks with children. In the background, young men and women can be seen strolling, as well as a carriage moving away. The artist prefers to ignore the city buildings, which are barely visible in the background through the foliage, focusing on the interior of the park and creating a kind of urban pastoral. Hassam depicted the park landscape, emphasizing its balance with curvy forms. Thanks to his skilful choice of location and objects, the artist successfully captures the idealistic moment of New York life on his canvas.
Spring in Central Park is more than just a leisurely cityscape; rather, it is a true image of serenity. The scene is given from a low point of view (almost at the level of the park path). This gives it a more intimate character, emphasizes the individuality of the figures, allows them to be portrayed more clearly. Hassam used uniform, long strokes to imbue the painting with a sense of graceful movement caused by the flowing gait of fashionably dressed women and the trees swaying in the spring breeze.
Spring in Central Park is the culmination of Childe Hassam’s 1890s, showing the balance of formal discipline and artistic freedom. This landmark place for New York is depicted not as a symbol, but filled with lively charm, provided primarily by the artist’s virtuoso work with colour and spreading light, which harmonizes all the elements of the picture with each other. Hassam looks at innovative urbanization through the eyes of an Impressionist, which enables him to discover a wonderful corner of serenity even in the thriving city.
Today, Spring in Central Park is the most expensive of Childe Hassam’s paintings. On 21 May 2008, it was sold at Christie’s for $ 5 million 641 thousand.
Written by Oleg Vybyvanets
At the turn of the century, Central Park was the largest and most famous public park in the country. It is located in the centre of Manhattan. More than eight hundred hectares of hills, meadows and forests in the park are punctuated by ponds and lakes and cut by miles of footpaths. Central Park achieves its symbolic status as it epitomizes the antidote to the unceremoniously invading modern world.
Depicting the wildly blooming spring, Hassam put in the foreground a nanny who walks with children. In the background, young men and women can be seen strolling, as well as a carriage moving away. The artist prefers to ignore the city buildings, which are barely visible in the background through the foliage, focusing on the interior of the park and creating a kind of urban pastoral. Hassam depicted the park landscape, emphasizing its balance with curvy forms. Thanks to his skilful choice of location and objects, the artist successfully captures the idealistic moment of New York life on his canvas.
Spring in Central Park is more than just a leisurely cityscape; rather, it is a true image of serenity. The scene is given from a low point of view (almost at the level of the park path). This gives it a more intimate character, emphasizes the individuality of the figures, allows them to be portrayed more clearly. Hassam used uniform, long strokes to imbue the painting with a sense of graceful movement caused by the flowing gait of fashionably dressed women and the trees swaying in the spring breeze.
Spring in Central Park is the culmination of Childe Hassam’s 1890s, showing the balance of formal discipline and artistic freedom. This landmark place for New York is depicted not as a symbol, but filled with lively charm, provided primarily by the artist’s virtuoso work with colour and spreading light, which harmonizes all the elements of the picture with each other. Hassam looks at innovative urbanization through the eyes of an Impressionist, which enables him to discover a wonderful corner of serenity even in the thriving city.
Today, Spring in Central Park is the most expensive of Childe Hassam’s paintings. On 21 May 2008, it was sold at Christie’s for $ 5 million 641 thousand.
Written by Oleg Vybyvanets
