American Impressionism

“The only impressionist painting shown is that by Childe Hassam. It is a landscape, a single fisherman by the bank of a small steam in the foreground being the only animate figure in the painting.”

~ Unidentified Writer for Article Paintings at Lyme:
Exhibition for Benefit of Local Library, 1903

When Childe Hassam arrived in Old Lyme in 1903, he provided a change in leadership and artistic direction for the painters. He introduced an Impressionist style, derived originally from French Impressionism but adapted to the New England setting that quickly became the colony’s signature style. American Impressionism, like its European inspiration, featured bright colors and painterly, broken brushstrokes that sought to capture the fleeting emotion, or “impression” of a scene. Unlike their French paintings, however, the subjects did not derive from the modernity of urban Paris but rather presented a fresh look at rural New England. Theirs was an American art, inspired by the Nation’s New England roots.

The Impressionists, both in France and America, sought freshness and immediacy. Using newly available collapsible and portable paint tubes, they often layered thick brushstrokes of paint upon the canvas to suggest the light hitting their subject, enhancing the color and form. Inspired by Japanese prints and black and white photography, their compositions incorporated areas of flat color and pattern with abrupt cropping, slight blurring of edges, and intriguing juxtapositions. Unlike the French prototype that depicted scenes of modern life, the American Impressionists painted a more selective view of America. Their paintings emphasized the pleasantries of small town life and generally omitted blatant evidence of modernity including automobiles and telephone poles. In Connecticut, the rural and picturesque landscape was paramount to the Impressionist artists, not only in Old Lyme, but also in Cos Cob, Noank, and Mystic.

Although the Tonalist and the Impressionists artists were painting the same types of subject matter, for instance the rural landscape around Old Lyme as well as the old New England homes, churches, and gardens, their approach was quite different. The specific characteristics found in many works of American Impressionism are outlined below.