The Victorian Chair 1906

Childe Hassam made "The Victorian Chair" with oil paints, and it's a dreamy, intimate scene. I think Hassam saw artmaking as a conversation, and in this piece, he seems to be chatting with the French Impressionists. The way he layers colors – the reds and greens of the chair bleeding into one another – it's all about feeling. The paint isn't trying to hide its presence; it's right there on the surface, thick in places, like around the roses, giving them this almost tactile quality. Notice that tiny stroke of white light catching her dress sleeve? It’s a small detail, but it gives the whole painting a little jolt of energy, a reminder of the real, breathing world. Hassam’s work reminds me a bit of Berthe Morisot; they both had this knack for capturing the quiet moments, the fleeting impressions of light and color. But Hassam brings his own American sensibility to it. It’s a dance between observation and emotion, and that’s what keeps me coming back.