Childe Hassam
American, 1859-1935
New England Duck Pond, 1912
Signed Childe Hassam and dated illegibily (ll); initialed CH and dated 1912 on the reverse
Oil on canvas
20 1/4 x 30 inches

Provenance:
The artist, 1912-1935
By bequest to The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, 1935-1959
Milch Galleries, New York, 1959
Dr. H. A. Blutman, New York
Estate of Dr. H. A. Blutman, 1960
By gift to Private collection, 1960
Meredith Long Gallery & Company, Houston, Texas, no. G37771
Private collection, Washington, D.C.

Exhibited:
New York, New York, Milch Galleries, Paintings and Works by Childe Hassam, no. 7 (as New England Duck Pond), April 26-May 15, 1943
New York, New York, Adelson Galleries, Inc., Childe Hassam: An American Impressionist, November 1- December 15, 1999
Houston, Texas, Meredith Long & Compay, Childe Hassam: An American Impressionist, January 11 - February 5, 2000, no. 84

This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the artist's work in preparation by Stuart Feld and Kathleen Burnside.

This verdant scene is rendered with the dense, short brushstrokes and expressive color that characterize the work of Childe Hassam in the years preceding and during the First World War. Although it has been suggested that it was painted in Cos Cob, Connecticut, the artist did not maintain a journal or diary recording his paintings, and there is no way of confirming the actual location. Hassam first visited Cos Cob as early as 1890, and was an active participant in the artists' community centered at the Bush-Holley House. Most of his compositions painted in the area focus upon the historic house itself, or on views of the harbor. It is as likely that the tranquil subject may have been painted at Old Lyme, where Hassam began to spend his summers in 1903. The modest footbridge depicted is not sufficiently distinctive architecturally to be identified, but the overall palette and setting of meadows and dense foliage are more consistent with his Old Lyme paintings. Hassam regularly depicted woodland interiors at Old Lyme. Indeed, his presentation work to the National Academy of Design, The Jewel Box, Old Lyme (also known as as The Pines, 20 x 24 inches) of 1906, presents a more restrained but similar type of composition as New England Duck Pond.

Hassam worked in both Old Lyme and Cos Cob from 1911 through 1913, and also painted on Twachtman's property on Round Hill Road in Greenwich. He also worked extensively at the Isles of Shoals, a location to which he devoted his attention in the early to mid-teens. Around 1917, he moved his summer residence to East Hampton, at the East End of Long Island, where he died in 1935.

Although the canvas is dated on the front, the last number is indistinct but has traditionally been read as 1913. However, the back of the canvas is clearly dated 1912, and the forthcoming catalogue raisonne currently in preparation by Stuart Feld and Kathleen Burnside records the earlier date. Hassam is known to have sometimes augmented or touched up his canvases, and to have signed and dated them after the fact. That may be the case with the present work; the little ducks appear to be heightened with black ink, perhaps a later addition by the artist.

We are grateful to Kathleen Burnside for her kind assistance in cataloguing this work.