In the Country

Provenance

Dr. Smithies, Massachusetts, 1933
Mr. and Mrs. James B. Landreth, Atherton, California, by descent from the above
Sven H.A. Bruntjen, Woodside, California, 1986
Private collection, Dallas, Texas, acquired from the above, 1986
Private collection, by descent from the above, 2026
Sale, Christie’s, New York, New York, January 23, 2026, lot 420

Literature

American Watercolor Society, Illustrated catalogue … annual exhibition of the American Water Color Society (The Society, 1887), no. 125, 10.

Boston Watercolor Society, Boston Water-Color Society Catalogue of Second Exhibition (Boston Art Club, 1887), no. 27, 2.

This painting will be included in Stuart P. Feld’s and Kathleen M. Burnside’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work.

Related Works

Lyman’s Pool, 1912, watercolor on off-white wove paper, 12¹⁄₁₆ x 18⅛ inches, signed anddated lower left: Childe Hassam / 1912; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester,Massachusetts

Saint-Cloud, 1889, watercolor on paper, 7⅛ × 10⅞ inches, signed, inscribed and dated lower left: Childe Hassam. St. Cloud 1889.; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Note

In many of Hassam’s watercolors, he includes narrative elements, suggesting a specific moment, however, In the Country demonstrates the artist’s primary subject: atmospheric effects. This watercolor shows his exploration of the tonal range of his green and brown palette combined with a soft, brushy technique that infuses the composition with a serene mood.[1]

[1] Barbara Weinberg, Childe Hassam, American Impressionist (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004), 32.