Columbus Avenue

Columbus Avenue in Boston, USA, would feature many times within Hassam's career. He continually found new angles from which to depict various parts of it. His most famous iteration remains Rainy Day, Boston, but the item in front of us here is also of great significance.

The style is entirely Impressionist, reminding us of the work of the likes of Monet, who produced blurred cityscapes full with emotion. James Whistler's approach is also similar to what we find here, with examples of his best work including the likes of Nocturne in Black and Gold - The Falling Rocket, Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge and also Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water. Monet, by contrast, would capture the London skyline under a great variety of different conditions and could iterate across dozens of paintings on the same topic. Hassam would take the great qualities of the French Impressionists, like Monet and also Pissarro, and then append his own ideas on top. American architecture would appear, as would the bustling cities of Boston and New York. He was proud of his country and always painted them in a positive manner, happily embracing this new, faster world. The artist would travel to many parts of the US in search of inspiration for his work, but the cities constantly drew him in, with Fifth Avenue also appearing many times over.

This interpretation of Columbus Avenue is amongst Hassam's most blurred pieces of all. He would add small dabs of lighter paint to depict the glow of warmth from a hotel room. Up close, it is hard to discern much, but once one stands back a little, then the image is formed in our minds. A number of dark figures make their way around on the left hand side of the painting and to the right we find plenty of clues as to the location of this work. A tall tower reaches into the sky, and a stocky looking structure to the left places us within a key part of the city. The sky is subdued but without being entirely dark, allowing just enough light to bring detail into the piece and lure us in. The whole atmosphere here feels very much of the late 19th century, and the subtle nature of this piece has led some to put this forward as one of the artist's best. It is also another good example of the connection between Whistler and Hassam.

The precise location of this painting could not be determined, unfortunately. The large number of artworks that Hassam produced in and around Columbus Avenue in Boston, USA has made i it hard to sometimes differentiate them and to find relevant information specific to each one. Most likely this piece will reside in a private US-based collection, or perhaps a small provincial museum which has not yet provided detail on it in an extensive manner. The artist also produced several thousands of artworks across his career and so it is inevitable that some of them still have more research to be done, but that will likely occur in the years ahead as interest in this artist continues to be particularly strong within his native US and also in parts of Europe as well.