The Isles of Shoals 1912

Childe Hassam painted this scene, called The Isles of Shoals, with strokes of pure colour and a tangible sense of light and place. I can almost feel the effort he put into it. Hassam seems to be trying to catch something fleeting, the way light rakes across the rocks, that incredible blue in the water, the distant horizon. I like the lone figure sitting there, gazing out to sea. I wonder what she’s thinking? I love how the paint is thick in places, like the cliff face, giving it real texture, and how those cool blues and whites contrast with touches of earthy browns and greens. There is a great conversation happening between the materiality of the scene and the materiality of the paint. Hassam makes you feel like you are in a specific place, but he also makes you think about the way that painters like him and Monet were working at that time. It's all pretty remarkable.