Summer Evening 1886

Curator: This is "Summer Evening" painted by Childe Hassam in 1886. Editor: There’s a sort of melancholic stillness to this. I’m struck by the back view of a woman near a window and the flowers on the windowsill. It has an ethereal quality. Curator: Hassam's known for capturing fleeting moments in time, but you are right; there's also an enduring sentiment present in much of his work, too. We see a woman, possibly observing the rural scenery through the window. Notice how the light drapes the scene in golden shades. Editor: Speaking of draping, the facture here seems pretty crucial to my reading. I’m also compelled to consider what kinds of pigment chemistry create this light, the linseed oil mixed in. And it looks like the linen ground hasn’t been primed so the oil in the paint will just eat through. Curator: Yes! Hassam's approach embodies Impressionism with his swift brushstrokes and keen attention to the effects of natural light on form. What is the interaction of these techniques, materials, and subjects getting at for you? Editor: It almost asks what value painting or art, even leisure has in a fully-commodified society. I bet the flowers in the pot, this quiet repose in summer, even that woman’s dress were commodities of their time. It makes you think, what about the actual physical work of applying paint to this canvas? Curator: Absolutely. These paintings served as invitations into moments of pause and observation in an era undergoing significant changes. Editor: True, thinking about labor really unlocks what's interesting in that golden stillness for me. Curator: I agree. And through that, Hassam reminds us to seek out such stillness, the precious glow of evening light and the transient beauty of fresh blooms, within our own modern lives, too. Editor: Looking closely at his materials and labor really opened it up, reminding us these simple domestic scenes come from somewhere, someone made all this possible.