Childe Hassam

The Water Garden, 1919. Childe Hassam. Oil on canvas. Partial and Promised Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Dillon, 1994.
This intimate landscape, with its strong rhythmic composition, flattened space, and tapestry-like application of paint, illustrates the modification of Hassam's style at the turn of the century when he absorbed Post-Impressionist developments. The painting is thought to have been executed on the property of a friend in East Hampton who had a beautiful lily pond surrounded by irises. Hassam was later to buy his own home in East Hampton, where he spent long periods during the last sixteen years of his life.