Day 9 "Huntington Ave" ink and wc 9 x 5 #Inktober and Childe Hassam

The city is so beautiful, all day long, but especially at dusk. I loved this dusk view along Huntington Avenue, and will use it as a study for a larger painting.  The one point perspective reminded me of so many Childe Hassam paintings of Boston.  See a couple below.  

This is my ninth drawing in the #Inktober challenge.  As always, thanks for looking.

"I know this tree!" - The Joy of Connecting Threads

 

















My husband and I were grabbing a bite in a local pub last week.  I looked out the window and thought.. "I know that tree!"  I think the complete thought is "I know that tree in that context with water behind it and its relationship to the other pines around it." Then remembered that I had made this watercolor sketch of it from another angle last summer.  I find it a great joy that images can be imprinted on my brain in this way.  The memory/relationship/association comes forward and I get a chance to explore a memory, usually involving other senses besides sight.  This memory and imprint was only a year old, but I have had images/memories jump forward from decades ago because something I see bumps a dusty corner of my brain.  I wrote about a few other examples here, here, and here... the first involving a 300 year old house near the home of my youth, another involving a color palette one of my students used in her still life and a John Alexander White painting, and another involving some quiet snowy trees and a favorite childhood book.  When cognitive threads connect, I rejoice.
How about you?
 

Childe Hassam "The Avenue in the Rain" 1917 and the West Wing

We have been binge watching "The West Wing" during this Christmas break.  I love the show, so wordy and fast-paced. I have no way of knowing if the show is an accurate depiction of the White House staff in action.  However, during a scene in the White House, I saw a familiar image in the background and looked it up.  Yes, this Childe Hassam painting, "The Avenue inthe Rain" 1917, is in the White House collection.  Turns out Childe Hassam painted at least 25 patriotic images with flags, many of 5th Avenue in New York.
During the latter part of his career, Childe Hassam lived in New York and had a studio near the 5th Avenue parade route.  In 1916 5th Avenue was the scene of a Preparedness Day parade, showing support for the US involvement in The Great War. The parade of 137,000 laborers, mothers, teachers, businessmen and doctors lasted over 13 hours. 
The flags were the inspiration for Hassam's patriotic series.

  

Childe Hassam silhouette - Nocturne, Railway Crossing

My classroom has no windows, although I can see light from across the hall through my doorway.... small consolation some days.  I have filled my classroom with visual interest, posters the students have made, art posters, a word wall, etc, etc... and my Smartboard which arrived this year.  Everyday, I choose an image or two to grace the Smartboard when I am not using it for academics.  It has great resolution.  I have displayed Calder wire faces, Eric Carle's joy, Homer, Sargent, Sorolla, today a Paul Rand, illustration... vivid, powerful, deceptively simple genius.   

Seems this winter, now spring, we have seldom seen the sun, and in fact, this mid-week of April, it was dreary and cold and drizzly, and enough is enough.  So, I called on Childe Hassam for a "wow the rain is beautiful" image, and here's what I got.  "Nocturne, Railway Crossing Chicago" from 1892.  Suddenly, the gray day that merges into a gray night, is not so dreary...  I am mesmerized by the silhouettes and tonalism in this quiet watercolor, and spent a little bit of time studying its gracious lines... what a masterpiece.   And, hey, the sun is coming out tomorrow!!

Fairbanks House - then and now

 

I surf the internet for images of paintings.  I suppose we all do, or most of us.  I look at artists, past and present, study their work, zoom in and out, isolate passages, ponder, wonder, revel.  I  begin most of my painting classes with a few minutes review of images that support the lesson, sometimes showing several side by side for comparison.  My students take notes of artists' names and titles and I encourage them to compile their own collection of images for study.  

Recently, while surfing through some painting images, this one caught my eye, not because of its wonderful light and design, brushwork, values, color harmony, but because the silhouette of the house resonated with a deep memory.  That roof line struck a chord.  

I thought I recognized the Fairbanks House in Dedham, MA.  I grew up near Dedham, and have driven past what is thought to be the oldest standing timber frame house in North America countless times, because it was the back road home from college, or the route to the dentist's, or the best way to avoid traffic on the perpetually congested Route 1.  As soon as my brain formulated the name "Fairbanks", I saw the title of Childe Hassam's wonderful painting, "The Old Fairbanks House".  The connection across centuries was thrilling, similar to looking at Edward Hopper's paintings of Monhegan Island and recognizing individual rocks from my own visits these past eight summers.

Hassam completed "The Old Fairbanks House" in 1884 when the house was already close to a quarter millenium old.  That is truly ancient history for New England.  I visited the Fairbanks House once, as a child.  I can't recall much of the inside, but its profile is etched in my brain.  I will visit again this spring, and will try to see as Childe Hassam might have seen.  I included an image of the house today.  You can learn more at http://www.fairbankshouse.org/