Art Institute of Chicago

Bailey's Beach, Newport, R.I.

Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935)

Date

1901

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

United States

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Childe Hassam, like other American Impressionists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, recorded scenes of leisure and recreation, especially country vacation retreats. This painting portrays fashionable Bailey’s Beach in Newport, Rhode Island, an exclusive seaside town known at the time for its wealth and luxury. Hassam depicted sand dunes rising from behind the beach with the promenade and its costumed bathers at a distance, reinforcing the fact that he, and the viewer, are excluded from this privileged setting. The artist’s Impressionist strategies—including the use of scintillating colors, energetic brushwork, and a light palette—capture the vibrant atmosphere of this sunny resort.

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