Morning Light 1914

Childe Hassam captured this intimate scene with oils, and from what I see, a whole lot of light. Look at how he handles the paint, all those tiny strokes, little dashes of color. It's like he's not just painting what he sees, but also how he sees it. Notice the way the light filters through the blinds, those broken lines and the way he uses color to build up the form of the woman at her dressing table. The dress she's wearing, it’s like a prism of light and color. Pinks, blues, whites, all mixed together with a kind of energetic looseness. I always think, art isn’t just about the finished piece, it's about the process, the doing, the figuring things out. It’s a bit like Bonnard, that same interest in light and domestic life. Except Hassam seems more interested in the surface of things, the way light interacts with the world. And isn't that what painting's all about, that ongoing conversation?