National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Allies Day, May 1917
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

A patriotic whirlwind overtook mid–town Manhattan as America entered the First World War in the spring of 1917. On Fifth Avenue, the British Union Jack, the French Tricolor, and Stars and Stripes were displayed prominently during parades honoring America's allies. The colorful pageantry inspired Childe Hassam, who dedicated this picture "to the coming together of [our] three peoples in the fight for democracy." Hassam's flag paintings were first shown as a group in New York's Durand–Ruel Gallery in November 1918, just four days after the armistice was declared. Thus, the works, originally created to herald America's entry into the war, also served to commemorate its victorious resolution.

Hassam had studied in Paris from 1886–1889 and was strongly influenced by the impressionists. In many respects, Allies Day resembles the vibrant boulevard paintings of Monet and Pissarro. Like these contemporary French artists, Hassam selected a high vantage point overlooking a crowded urban thoroughfare to achieve an illusion of dramatic spatial recession. But, rather than using daubs of shimmering pigment to dissolve form, he applied fluid parallel paint strokes to create an architectonic patterning. Although he shared the impressionists' interest in bright colors, broken brushwork, and modern themes, Hassam's overall approach was less theoretical and his pictorial forms remained far more substantial than those of his European contemporaries.

Inscription

center left: Childe Hassam / May 17 1917; upper left reverse, in monogram: C.H.; upper right reverse: May 1917

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Sold 1919 through (E. & A. Milch, Inc., New York) to Gilbert E. Rubens [1884-1960], New York, until 1930; (William Macbeth, New York); sold December 1930 to Glenn Ford McKinney [d. 1934], New York; acquired 1934 by his sister, Ethelyn McKinney, Greenwich, Connecticut; gift 1943 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1918
Ninety-third Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1918, no. 282.
1929
Exhibition of a Retrospective Group of Paintings Representative of the Life Work of Childe Hassam, N.A., The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, 1929, no. 109, as St. Thomas' Avenue of the Allies, 1917.
1943
Paintings and Watercolors by Childe Hassam, Milch Galleries, New York, 1943, no. 9.
1945
Extended loan for use by The White House, Washington, D.C., 1945.
1952
Extended loan for use by Blair House, Washington, D.C., 1952-1953.
1953
Extended loan for use by The White House, Washington, D.C., 1953-1964.
1965
About New York, Night and Day 1915-1965, The Gallery of Modern Art, New York, 1965, unnumbered, p. 17.
1967
National Gallery Loan Exhibition, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1967, no. 17.
1971
French Impressionists Influence American Artists, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, 1971, no. 63.
1971
What is American in American Art, M. Knoedler and Co. [benefit exhibition for the Museum of American Folk Art], New York, 1971, no. 99.
1973
American Impressionist Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Musuem of American Art, New York; Cincinnati Art Museum; The North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, 1973-1974, no. 35.
1976
The American Flag in the Art of Our Country, Allentown Art Museum, Pennsylvania, 1976, repro. 43.
1977
The Ten, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 1977, repro. 31.
1988
The Flag Paintings of Childe Hassam, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York, 1988-1989, no. 8 (cat. by Ilene Fort).
1990
American Impressionism: Masterworks from Public and Private Collections in the United States, Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola, Switzerland, 1990, no. 24 (cat. by William Gerdts).
1994
American Impression and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885-1915, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; The Denver Art Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994-1995, no. 31, fig. 178.
2000
Rave Reviews: American Art and Its Critics, 1826-1925, National Academy of Design, New York; Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa; Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2000-2001, no. 67, repro. (shown only in New York).
2004
Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 232.
2006
Americans in Paris 1860-1900, The National Gallery, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2006 - 2007, no. 94.

Bibliography

1918
The New York Times (13 March 1918): 11:3.
1918
Noyes, Alfred. The Avenue of the Allies and Victory. New York, 1918: frontispiece.
1918
"The National Academy's Ninety-third Annual Exhibition." American Magazine of Art 9 (May 1918): 290, repro. 260.
1919
The Milch Gallery. Art Notes (April 1919): 9-11.
1919
The Milch Gallery. Art Notes (October 1919): 5-6.
1922
Pousette-Dart, Nathaniel. Childe Hassam. In Distinguished American Artists. New York, 1922: viii.
1930
"Fine Arts Values Again Revealed by Hassam Sale." Art News 29 (13 December 1930): 3.
1938
Adams, Adeline. Childe Hassam. New York, 1938: 71-72.
1969
Lowe, David G. "The Banner Years." American Heritage 20 (June 1969): 54, repro. 55.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 66, repro.
1973
Andrew, John. Saint Thomas Church. New York, 1973: 16, 18, repro. 4.
1978
King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 106, pl. 69.
1979
Hoopes, Donelson F. Childe Hassam. New York, 1979: 82.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 171, repro.
1980
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 16, no. 51, color repro.
1981
Williams 1981, color repro. 6, 192.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 568, no. 867, color repro.
1988
Fort, Ilene. The Flag Paintings of Childe Hassam. Exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988: no. 8, color repro. 46.
1988
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 19-20, 160, 162, no. 57, color repro.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 196, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 249, repro.
1994
Weinberg, H. Barbara, Doreen Bolger, and David Park Curry. American Impressionism and Realism: The Paintings of Modern Life, 1885-1915. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994: no. 31, 196, 198-199, fig. 178.
1996
Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 283-287, color repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 405, no. 335, color repro.
2007
Goldin, Marco, ed. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. 2 vols. Treviso, 2007: 1:337, repro.; 2:138, 143 n. 46.

Related Works

Related Resources

  • Event Type
    Event Name
    March 1–June 1
    Mon, Tues, and Wed at 1:00
    March 5, 2012 at 2:00
    March 7, 2012 at 4:00
    East Building, Auditorium
    Name of docent
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
    60 minutes
    Registration for this event begins on April 1, 2012 at noon.
    Register for this event
    Download the program notes (100k)
  • Self-Guided Tour
    Italian Collection
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum