Spring, Navesink Highlands 1908

Childe Hassam captured this landscape, Spring, Navesink Highlands, with oil on canvas, somewhere without dimensions. I can really appreciate the way Hassam fearlessly dives into the thick of it, using these tactile strokes to build up a landscape that feels both familiar and otherworldly. Looking at the painting, it's like being wrapped in the feeling of a breezy spring afternoon. You can almost feel the sun warming your face, the air fresh and clean. The way he layers the paint, thick in some spots and almost transparent in others, creates a real sense of depth and movement. The reflections in the water are these soft daubs of color, like the whole scene is breathing. It makes me think of Monet, or even Pissarro, but with its own particular voice. The brushstrokes dance across the canvas in a way that is so free and energetic. It's like he's not just painting what he sees, but also how he feels being in the landscape.