Little Old Cottage, Egypt Lane, East Hampton 1917

Childe Hassam's 'Little Old Cottage, Egypt Lane, East Hampton' is a flurry of oil paint laid down with so much gusto you can almost smell the linseed. Look at the way he builds up the surface, less like describing a house, more like wrestling with the very idea of "home." I'm really drawn to the facade of the house - the way each shingle is marked with an individual stroke. It's a mosaic of earthy browns, greens, and greys. The paint application is thick, almost sculptural. It feels like Hassam wasn't just painting what he saw, but also what he felt about the place, a sense of lived-in history. The white cat in the garden, so small, but holding the whole painting together. It reminds me of Van Gogh, that same intensity, that feeling that every brushstroke is a little explosion of feeling. Ultimately, art is a conversation, and Hassam is right in there, shouting from the rooftops with color and texture.