Childe Hassam: An Island Garden Revisited [Hardcover]

David Park Curry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2005

A major book on a major American Impressionist.

From the late 1880s to around 1915, Childe Hassam, America's foremost impressionist, frequently visited the Isles of Shoals, the site of a summer resort popular with many American artists and writers. Paintings from Hassam's Isles of Shoals series are among the most familiar icons of late nineteenth-century American art. But until now, a comprehensive selection of these beautiful works had not been collected in one place. David Park Curry's informative text provides the background essential to a full appreciation of these works. 105 full-color reproductions and100 black-and-white photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1894, writer Celia Thaxter published An Island Garden describing her rambling cottage garden at Appledore, on the rocky Isles of Shoals, ten miles off the New Hampshire coast. American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859-1935) illustrated her book. As a frequent visitor to the Shoals, Hassam created a series of oils, watercolors, and pastels capturing their idyllic serenity. For the first time, Curry has assembled an exhibition of many of the Shoals paintings and has written this catalog to "record not only the beauty of a poet's garden in its glory, but also the flowering of a young artist's dreams." The text provides welcome material where little exists, and the brilliant color plates evoke Hassam's aesthetic philosophy. Recommended for all American art collections.
- Joan Levin, Indian Trails P.L., Wheeling, Ill.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

David Park Curry is a distinguished curator and scholar of American art. He is the senior curator of decorative arts, American painting, and sculpture at the Baltimore Museum of Art. In addition, Curry has served as curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, and the Freer Gallery of Art.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (April 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393028690
• ISBN-13: 978-0393028690
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 10 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Post-Impressionism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the original....., September 22, 2002

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Childe Hassam: An Island Garden Revisited (Hardcover)

Somewhere in one of my many boxes of books I have a copy of a reprint of the original book by Celia Thaxter, "An Island Garden". I have written a review about this book for Amazon elsewhere, and said it wasn't very good (it isn't) and received many negative votes. My major complaint about the "other" book is that you cannot see the brush strokes in the paintings. The book obviously appeals to those who care not a whit about brush strokes.

Fans of Child Hassam--this is the book you want. No, it isn't the cute little book by Thaxter. The reproductions of Childe Hassam's paintings of Celia Thaxter's island in CHILD HASSAM: AN ISLAND GARDEN REVISITED are 100 times better--and you can see the brush strokes. I can't give this book five stars, because I collect art books know the reproductions could have been better. However, the reproductions in this book are head and shoulders above those in Thaxter's book. Not only that, David Curry has included much text about life on Thaxer's island and in her famous parlor.

If you are a fan of the American Impressionist Childe Hassam, you will appreciate knowing something about the artist, his work, his friends, and his relationship with Ms. Thaxter. Most of all, you will be able to see what he painted and get an idea of where you might locate some of the originals. They are still hanging in various places such as the Walter's Gallery in Baltimore and other esoteric locations.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childe Hassam: An Island Revisited, January 24, 2010

By 

S. Schumacher (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Childe Hassam: An Island Garden Revisited (Hardcover)

Having a copy of An Island Garden prompted me to buy this wonderful book. Childe Hassam's impressionists beginnings are recorded by his work from this little resort island called Isles of Shoals off New Hampshire's coast. I am so grateful to have a little window into how Chile Hassam developed into the artist he was. Celia Thaxter became his poetic muse, and this book records his work from her little garden on Appledore to lighthouses, to the rocky shoals on the coastline. I highly recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great Hassam book, November 1, 2010

By 

lonnie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Childe Hassam: An Island Garden Revisited (Hardcover)

If you like Hassam's work, you will not be disappointed in this book. Some of the subjects are very similar, as he created these pictures in the same area, but the variety of pastel, watercolor, and oils make this a great book. Very highly recommended.