Painting the Town -- Museum of the City of New York

Established as Union Place under the Commissioner's Plan of 1807, the area later known as Union Square extended from 10th Street north to 17th Street and from Broadway east to Fourth Avenue. The name of the square derived from "the great number of principal streets and avenues" which "united here [more] than at any other square in the city," as reported in a mid-nineteenth-century guidebook to New York.¹ By 1890 the square had undergone transitions typical of other New York neighborhoods as the city spread north, evolving from the crossroads of a farming community to a manicured residential park, a fashionable commercial center, and the city's rialto or theater district.

Union Square remained sparsely settled until 1831, when neighboring landowners, eager to create a new oasis for elite New Yorkers, pressured the Common Council to fulfill the earlier promise of a park. The city acquired additional land between 14th and 18th Streets, Fourth Avenue and Broadway, and developed a residential park design inspired by the Rue de la Paix and the Place Vendôme in Paris. In 1842, with the opening of the Croton Aqueduct, a new fountain added to the charm of Union Square. By 1849 the square, then considered to be very much "uptown," had emerged as a fashionable site for elegant hotels, exclusive boarding schools, and the homes of wealthy New Yorkers.² During the 1860s, the well-to-do migrated away from the area in search of more desirable modern living quarters to the north. Businesses gravitated to the square; eventually the dominant firms were those supplying services to the area's burgeoning theater industry.

In 1882 a demonstration for an eight-hour workday took place in Union Square. The 1893 edition of King's Handbook of New York City described the plaza there as "a favored place for large outdoor mass-meetings," implying that its use was evolving.³ By the early twentieth century, the square had gained a reputation as a spot for politically charged gatherings, which sometimes became confrontations between participants and police. In 1891 the Parks Commissioners granted permission to the Market Florists Association to exhibit and sell flowers and potted plants along the north and east sides of Union Square during the early morning hours.⁴ Hassam's placement of several clay pots in the painting suggests that this activity pre-dated the permit.

Beginning in 1886, the painter Childe Hassam spent three years studying, working, and exhibiting in Paris, where he absorbed the canons of Impressionism. After returning to New York City in 1889, he lived at a succession of addresses while painting scenes of American cities akin to those he had done of Paris. In these compositions a densely packed middle ground provided a backdrop to an open, largely vacant foreground stage occupied by more solitary figures isolated from the scene's main activity.⁵ By placing the compositional elements of the pavement on a diagonal, the artist has used the plaza's open space to push the crowd away from the picture plane, allowing the isolated mid- and foreground figures to stand out.

In an interview in 1892, Hassam spoke of his propensity for studying urban crowds and of waiting to make sketches until "the vehicles or people disposed themselves in a manner more conducive to a good effect for the whole." He also expressed his partiality for depicting rain-soaked street pavements, which he thought "very pretty when & wet and shining, and caught the reflections of passing people and vehicles."⁶ In Rainy Late Afternoon, Union Square the artist combined these elements with movement and crowds to create a peculiarly urban mood. The approach of sunset is indicated by the fading glow of the distant sky glimpsed between rows of buildings. The dense crowd moving west at the far edge of the plaza and the throng of cabs on what is probably 14th Street suggest a post-matinee crush of theatergoers. A small drama seems to be taking place between the fashionably dressed woman in the foreground and the man standing near the fountain steps, who studies her as she walks away. The viewer can only speculate about the relationship between them.

Although landscapes and shore scenes are also represented in his extensive oeuvre, Hassam clearly welcomed the challenge of painting urban scenes. He produced many views of Parisian street life but particularly valued the New York cityscape as a theme, believing that "the thoroughfares of the great French metropolis are not one whit more interesting than the streets of New York. There are days here when the sky and atmosphere are exactly those of Paris, and when the squares and parks are every bit as beautiful in color and grouping."⁷ Rainy Late Afternoon, Union Square exemplifies Hassam's deft application of his European training to the American cityscape. Although he is considered an important American Impressionist, it is significant that his style never surrendered realistic representation to the conspicuously loose, spontaneous, often indistinct brushwork of his French counterparts.

Notes:

1 The Citizens and Strangers' Pictorial and Business Directory for the City of New-York, and Its Vicinity (New York: Chas. Spalding, 1853); quoted in I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1926), vol. 5, p. 1851.

2 I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1918), vol. 3, p. 104.

3 Moses King, ed., King's Handbook of New York City (Boston: Moses King, 1893), p. 166.

4 Minutes and Documents of the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks For the Year Ending April 30, 1891 (New York: Martin B. Brown, 1891), p. 393.

5 Richard H. Love, "Childe Hassam's 'September Sunlight': The Grand Prix Connection," Magazine Antiques 131, no. 4 (April 1987): 726.

6 A. F. Ives, "Talks with Artists: Mr. Childe Hassam on Painting Street Scenes," Art Amateur (October 27, 1892): 116 -117.

7 Ibid., pp. 116 -117.


Rainy Late Afternoon, Union Square (also exhibited as Rain Storm, Union Square), 1890 Frederick Childe Hassam (1859 -1935) Oil on canvas, 35 1/2 X 43 1/2 Signed lower right: Childe Hassam / 1890. Inscribed on back: Rainy late afternoon, Union Square. Gift of Miss Mary Whitney Bangs, 69.121.1
Established as Union Place under the Commissioner's Plan of 1807, the area later known as Union Square extended from 10th Street north to 17th Street and from Broadway east to Fourth Avenue. The name of the square derived from "the great number of principal streets and avenues" which "united here [more] than at any other square in the city," as reported in a mid-nineteenth-century guidebook to New York.¹ By 1890 the square had undergone transitions typical of other New York neighborhoods as the city spread north, evolving from the crossroads of a farming community to a manicured residential park, a fashionable commercial center, and the city's rialto or theater district. Union Square remained sparsely settled until 1831, when neighboring landowners, eager to create a new oasis for elite New Yorkers, pressured the Common Council to fulfill the earlier promise of a park. The city acquired additional land between 14th and 18th Streets, Fourth Avenue and Broadway, and developed a residential park design inspired by the Rue de la Paix and the Place Vendôme in Paris. In 1842, with the opening of the Croton Aqueduct, a new fountain added to the charm of Union Square. By 1849 the square, then considered to be very much "uptown," had emerged as a fashionable site for elegant hotels, exclusive boarding schools, and the homes of wealthy New Yorkers.² During the 1860s, the well-to-do migrated away from the area in search of more desirable modern living quarters to the north. Businesses gravitated to the square; eventually the dominant firms were those supplying services to the area's burgeoning theater industry. In 1882 a demonstration for an eight-hour workday took place in Union Square. The 1893 edition of King's Handbook of New York City described the plaza there as "a favored place for large outdoor mass-meetings," implying that its use was evolving.³ By the early twentieth century, the square had gained a reputation as a spot for politically charged gatherings, which sometimes became confrontations between participants and police. In 1891 the Parks Commissioners granted permission to the Market Florists Association to exhibit and sell flowers and potted plants along the north and east sides of Union Square during the early morning hours.⁴ Hassam's placement of several clay pots in the painting suggests that this activity pre-dated the permit. Beginning in 1886, the painter Childe Hassam spent three years studying, working, and exhibiting in Paris, where he absorbed the canons of Impressionism. After returning to New York City in 1889, he lived at a succession of addresses while painting scenes of American cities akin to those he had done of Paris. In these compositions a densely packed middle ground provided a backdrop to an open, largely vacant foreground stage occupied by more solitary figures isolated from the scene's main activity.⁵ By placing the compositional elements of the pavement on a diagonal, the artist has used the plaza's open space to push the crowd away from the picture plane, allowing the isolated mid- and foreground figures to stand out. In an interview in 1892, Hassam spoke of his propensity for studying urban crowds and of waiting to make sketches until "the vehicles or people disposed themselves in a manner more conducive to a good effect for the whole." He also expressed his partiality for depicting rain-soaked street pavements, which he thought "very pretty when & wet and shining, and caught the reflections of passing people and vehicles."⁶ In Rainy Late Afternoon, Union Square the artist combined these elements with movement and crowds to create a peculiarly urban mood. The approach of sunset is indicated by the fading glow of the distant sky glimpsed between rows of buildings. The dense crowd moving west at the far edge of the plaza and the throng of cabs on what is probably 14th Street suggest a post-matinee crush of theatergoers. A small drama seems to be taking place between the fashionably dressed woman in the foreground and the man standing near the fountain steps, who studies her as she walks away. The viewer can only speculate about the relationship between them. Although landscapes and shore scenes are also represented in his extensive oeuvre, Hassam clearly welcomed the challenge of painting urban scenes. He produced many views of Parisian street life but particularly valued the New York cityscape as a theme, believing that "the thoroughfares of the great French metropolis are not one whit more interesting than the streets of New York. There are days here when the sky and atmosphere are exactly those of Paris, and when the squares and parks are every bit as beautiful in color and grouping."⁷ Rainy Late Afternoon, Union Square exemplifies Hassam's deft application of his European training to the American cityscape. Although he is considered an important American Impressionist, it is significant that his style never surrendered realistic representation to the conspicuously loose, spontaneous, often indistinct brushwork of his French counterparts. Notes: 1 The Citizens and Strangers' Pictorial and Business Directory for the City of New-York, and Its Vicinity (New York: Chas. Spalding, 1853); quoted in I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1926), vol. 5, p. 1851. 2 I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island (New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1918), vol. 3, p. 104. 3 Moses King, ed., King's Handbook of New York City (Boston: Moses King, 1893), p. 166. 4 Minutes and Documents of the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks For the Year Ending April 30, 1891 (New York: Martin B. Brown, 1891), p. 393. 5 Richard H. Love, "Childe Hassam's 'September Sunlight': The Grand Prix Connection," Magazine Antiques 131, no. 4 (April 1987): 726. 6 A. F. Ives, "Talks with Artists: Mr. Childe Hassam on Painting Street Scenes," Art Amateur (October 27, 1892): 116 -117. 7 Ibid., pp. 116 -117.