Childe Hassam
American, 1859 - 1935New England Barroom, 1917
Not on view
Etching on paper
Dimensions7 3/8 × 8 1/8 in. (18.7 × 20.6 cm)
Image: 5 × 5 5/8 in. (12.7 × 14.3 cm)
Gift of Mrs. Childe Hassam, 1940.26
Childe Hassam’s graphic works form a considerable portion of his total artistic production. In addition to painting, Hassam devoted himself to drawing in several different media, including pencil, charcoal and pastel. In 1915 at the age of 56, Hassam turned to etching, embracing the medium enthusiastically. He was summering in Cos Cob, Connecticut, and used Kerr Eby’s printing press. Two years later he also took up lithography. Altogether, Hassam’s prints span a twenty-year period, during which he mastered several techniques that enabled him to present his subjects in a variety of moods.
Hassam’s basic technique of etching involved the use of a sharp, pointed tool to draw the image onto a metal surface that had been covered with a wash-like ground. The plate was then submerged in an acid bath, which “bit,” or dissolved away, the metal exposed by the incisions. Afterwards the plate was inked and printed on paper. Sometimes, Hassam applied a surface tint thinly in order to achieve a more heavily toned image.
Apprenticed to a Boston wood engraver in 1879, Hassam worked as a freelance illustrator for book publishers and magazines, including Harper’s, Scribner’s and The Century and attended evening classes at Boston Art Club 1887-88. In 1889, after a three-year stay in Paris, he settled in New York. He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1902 and exhibited in the Armory Show of 1913.
