Oregon Coast 1904

Childe Hassam made this pastel drawing of the Oregon Coast sometime in his lifetime. Look at how the marks are laid down, almost scribbled, like he’s trying to capture a fleeting impression rather than a detailed picture. You can see the grain of the paper underneath. The sandy colors mix with blues and greens to give you a sense of the place, but it's more like a feeling than a photograph, right? Take a look at the large rock dominating the foreground, you can see the layering of different color crayons across the surface. The artist almost lets the underlying buff paper work as one of the colors in his composition. Hassam was an impressionist, and you can see his concern with light and atmosphere here. It makes me think of artists like Whistler who captured a similarly light, delicate sense of place. Ultimately, what makes this drawing sing is its openness, its willingness to leave things unsaid and unresolved.