Old Long Island Landscape 1920

Childe Hassam made this landscape of Long Island with oil on canvas, and it's a real trip. You can see how he's just laying down these quick, choppy brushstrokes, like he's trying to catch the light as it bounces off everything. It's all about the process of seeing, right? Take a look at that sky. The brushwork there is so immediate, like he’s in a rush to capture a fleeting moment. You can almost feel the wind moving those clouds along. Then, closer to the bottom of the painting, he really piles on the paint, especially in the grass. You can see the texture, like, he really wants you to feel the weight of it. And the way he mixes greens and browns makes you think of Monet, though Hassam’s got his own thing going on. I guess what I love about painting is how it's like an ongoing conversation. You look at one artist, then another, and they all riff off each other, creating something new and weird.