Flags, Fifth Avenue 1918

Childe Hassam made this watercolor painting, Flags, Fifth Avenue, sometime around 1917, and it’s all about process! The way Hassam applies the watercolor is so loose. He lets the watery paint drip and bleed, creating a feeling of movement and energy. Look at how he renders the flags: quick, gestural strokes that capture the fluttering motion, and there’s a really beautiful tension between representation and abstraction. The flags are recognizable, but they’re also just shapes and colors dancing across the surface. You can almost see the artist’s hand moving, making decisions in real time. This piece reminds me a bit of some of Joan Mitchell’s looser landscapes, where the subject matter is almost dissolving into pure color and feeling. What Hassam and Mitchell share, is that sense of immediacy. Neither artist is interested in precise rendering but more in capturing the fleeting, ephemeral qualities of light and atmosphere. Hassam makes it clear that painting isn't about perfect imitation, but about a conversation between the artist, the medium, and the world.