Rocks and Sea, Isle of Shoals

As the leading exponent of Impressionism in the United States, Hassam was often compared to Claude Monet, much to Hassam’s annoyance. While certainly aware of Monet, Hassam identified more strongly with other artistic influences, such as the work of J. M. W. Turner, the writings of John Ruskin, and the “aesthetic movement” in general, which swept through New England in the late nineteenth century. The Isles of Shoals are a group of small, rocky islands about ten miles off the New Hampshire coast, near Portsmouth. Hassam spent many summers on the largest island, Appledore, drawn, like many fellow artists, writers, and musicians, by the celebrated poet and journalist Celia Laighton Thaxter. The paintings executed at Appledore, accounting for approximately ten percent of his oeuvre, are perhaps his finest accomplishments in the exploration of color and form. He believed that true Impressionism was realism, in that the artist found inspiration in nature and did not allow artistic tradition to interrupt the connection between observation and the resulting image. (From “A Handbook of the Collection: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,” 1998)