The Holly Farm 1902

Childe Hassam made this piece called 'The Holly Farm' with soft pastel, and it’s all about how marks build up into a feeling. Look closely, and you’ll see how the surface buzzes with short, almost scribbled strokes. You get a real sense of the physical act of applying the pastel, dragged and layered to create the impression of light filtering through the trees. It's like he’s trying to capture not just what he sees, but also the fleeting sensation of being there. I love the way Hassam uses the blue of the sky to frame the building. It makes the building feel kind of nestled and soft. This reminds me of some of the pastel works of Degas, where the fleeting impression of a particular moment is more important than the precise rendering of details. For Hassam, like Degas, art is a space for capturing the subjective experience of seeing.