Along the Seine, Winter

By 1886, Childe Hassam was enjoying artistic success with his atmospheric paintings of Boston street scenes. That same year he left the United States for three years of study in Paris, where he received a disciplined training at the Academie Julian, and at the same time came under the influence of the Impressionists. "Along the Seine, Winter" shares its subject matter with Hassam's earlier works, but shows very clearly the first changes in his style toward the mature Impressionism of his works of the 1880s and early 1900s. The dark clear colors of the Boston paintings are tempered by the pearlescent light of Paris, which Hassam conveys with a much looser, more fluid brush. The softness of color and touch echoes the mellow winter ambience of the City of Lights.