The South Ledges, Appledore

Childe Hassam, The South Ledges, Appledore, 1913, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.62
Childe Hassam, The South Ledges, Appledore, 1913, oil on canvas, 34 1436 18 in. (87.091.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.62
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
The South Ledges, Appledore
Date
1913
Dimensions
34 1436 18 in. (87.091.6 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of John Gellatly
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Dress — accessory — hat
  • Landscape — island — Appledore Island
  • Landscape — Maine — Appledore Island
  • Landscape — coast
  • Figure female — full length
Object Number
1929.6.62

Artwork Description

Hassam spent many summers on Appledore Island off the coast of Maine. Every year, he and a circle of musicians, writers and other artists made an informal colony based at the home of his friend, the poet Celia Thaxter. In Thaxter's gardens and on the rocky beaches, Hassam used the flickering brushwork and brilliant colors he had adopted in France to capture the spangled light of Appledore's brief summer. This painting evokes the leisurely, seasonal rhythms of America's priveleged families in the last years before the Great War. A beautifully dressed woman shields her face from the sun; she looks down and away, as if absorbed in the song of a sandpiper, the island bird that inspired Celia Thaxter's most famous children's poem.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (2 items)

Jenny Holzer, For SAAM, 2007, electronic LED array with white diodes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2008.3, © 2007, Jenny Holzer/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
For SAAM
Date2007
electronic LED array with white diodes
On view

Related Books

Book cover of American Impressionists
American Impressionism: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
American Impressionism: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum commemorates Treasures to Go, a series of eight exhibitions from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, touring the nation through 2002. The Principal Financial Group is a proud partner in presenting these treasures to the American people.

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Crystal City
Date2009
mixed media installation, including glass, crystal, silver, plastic, and ceramic objects
Not on view
David Esterly, Thomas Jefferson's Letter Rack, 2017, limewood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the collection of Candace and Michael Humphreys, 2023.55
Thomas Jefferson’s Letter Rack
Date2017
limewood
Not on view