Dawn 1914

Childe Hassam made this dreamy landscape painting called 'Dawn,' probably with oil on canvas. Look at the way he’s built up a whole world with these tiny dabs and dashes. It’s like he's building up a whole atmosphere, brick by brick. I can only imagine him standing there, squinting at the light, trying to capture that fleeting moment when night turns into day. You can feel the hum of the air and sense the coolness of the water. What I love most about his paintings, like this one, is how they remind us that we're all part of this big conversation. Hassam looked at Monet, and Van Gogh looked at Hassam, and now we’re looking at all of them, trying to figure out how to make sense of this crazy, beautiful world. Painting is this conversation that never really ends.