Figural
CHILDE HASSAM (1859–1935)
Venetian Glass (Portrait of Kitty Hughes), about 1913–16
Oil on canvas, 33 1/4 x 23 1/8 in.
Signed, dated, and inscribed (at lower right): ′Childe Hassam / 1916; (on the back): C. H. [circled] / 1916
RECORDED: “List 344 Paintings at Pittsburgh Show. Eighteenth International Exhibition to Open at Carnegie Institute on April 30,” New York Times, April 20, 1914, p. 11 // (probably) Moore S. Achenbach, “Art Galleries Are Open For Private View,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, April 30, 1914, p. 7 // (probably) Glendinning Keeble, “Paintings Seen at Private View,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 30, 1914, p. 16 // (probably) “Many Artists Will Exhibit,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, April 20, 1914, p. 5 // John Lane, “Thumb-Nail Notes on the Annual Exhibition of the Chicago Art Institute,” International Studio 54 (December 1914), p. lv // “Random Impressions in Current Exhibitions,” New-York Tribune, February 25, 1917, p. 21 // Adeline Adams, Childe Hassam (New York: American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1938), illus. opposite p. 92 as “Kitty Hughes, 1916”
EXHIBITED: Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, April 30–June 30, 1914, Eighteenth Annual Exhibition, no. 149 // City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, from September 6, 1914, Ninth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 88 //Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 3–December 6, 1914, Twenty-seventh Annual Exhibition of American Oil Paintings and Sculpture, no. 145 // M. Knoedler & Co., New York, February 15–March 3, 1917, Exhibition of American Painters, no. 19 // Detroit Museum of Art, Detroit, Michigan, April 9–May 30, 1918, Fourth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 123 // The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, November 19, 1966–February 11, 1967, Childe Hassam Exhibition, no. 1, as “Kitty Hughes”
EX COLL.: the artist, 1913–35; by bequest to The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, 1935 until the present
In his activity as a figure painter, Hassam focused his attention primarily on images of women, ranging from depictions of flower-vendors and nude bathers to portrayals of fashionable ladies strolling through parks and gardens. During the early 1910s—probably inspired by the figurative works of Boston School artists Edmund Tarbell and Joseph DeCamp—Hassam also painted indoor scenes featuring genteel women seated or standing next to windows covered by transparent curtains or shown in quiet repose contemplating flowers, bowls of fruit, or a treasured object, as is the case with Venetian Glass. Dressed in a flowing blue kimono, Hassam’s model is shown close to the picture plane against a patterned backdrop of subtle floral motifs. The viewer’s gaze is instantly drawn to the long-stemmed Italian Murano glass—a reflection of the Aesthetic Movement’s taste for collecting exotic decorative objects from afar—that is meant to be the subject of the painting. In keeping with Hassam’s figural themes from this period, he renders the model’s clothing with slashing, divisionist brushwork that imparts an aura of spontaneity to the picture while evoking the myriad folds and creases of the drapery. By contrast, Hassam adheres to a more realistic technique in depicting the transparent glassware and in his rendering of the woman’s face, his deft handling effectively capturing her slightly upturned nose and delicately pointed chin. Touches of white add verve and sparkle to the composition while soft pinks and rosy flesh tones capture the youthful blush on the figure’s cheeks.
The title of this painting refers to the glass, a precious item of beauty and refinement. However, these qualities are equally attributable to the captivating young woman depicted in the canvas, an object of loveliness in herself. As revealed by the label on the verso, the model is Kitty Hughes who, as noted by the critic Royal Cortissoz, “posed for many of the artist’s works,” among them the oils Reflection (Kitty Hughes) (1917; David Owsley Museum of Art, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana) and Kitty Walking in Snow (1918; private collection), as well as etchings titled Kitty Resting (1918) and The Butterfly Dance––One Figure (1916).
