Boston Common at Twilight

Childe Hassam's painting, Boston Common at Twilight, is a beautiful depiction of one of Boston's most famous parks. It is found in the Suzanne and Terrence Murray Gallery (American Impressionism) and is part of the Art of the Americas wing on the museum's second floor. The museum's description of the painting is as follows: "Hassam depicted Boston's oldest park looking southwest towards Boylston Street. He was familiar with modern French art and its subjects drawn for contemporary life. Here, a fashionably dressed woman strolls along one of the promenades constructed on Boston Common to transform a grazing area and parade ground into an elegant urban oasis. Behind her, trolley cars sit in rush hour traffic along Tremont Street, lined with the recently constructed mercantile buildings that replaced old row houses. Artificial light glows from the streetlights and storefronts. Using a rusty-pink palette to unify his winter scene, Hassam created a gentle vision of the modern city in harmony with nature." From the citation next to the painting, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Childe Hassam, 1859-1935, was a young painter when he completed this painting in 1885-86. A native of the Boston area, Hassam had only briefly studied art in France before creating this painting. At the time, Boston was being transformed from a rural area to an industrial city, replacing its quaint row houses and pastures with traffic and businesses. A painting that is considered to be a charming classic now was considered very modern in the mid-1880s, when it was completed.

Hassam's painting, Boston Common at Twilight, depicts a typical winter evening on the Boston Common. The dimensions of the painting are 106.68 x 152.4 cm (42 x 60 in.) and it was medium to large, size wise, in comparison to the other paintings in the gallery. The medium used by Hassam is oil on canvas, which seems to be his most common technique. The subject matter is very detailed. In the center of the painting there is a nicely dressed woman with two children who are feeding some birds. They are walking on one of the pathways that runs along the edge of the Boston Common and the road. To their right, there is a row of trees that line the park and to their left is a street full of traffic. Behind them, there are many people walking on the pathway around the Boston Common. By the way the row of large trees bends in the background, one can assume that the park is a square surrounded by pathways similar to the one the people are walking on. On the far left of the painting, next to the street, there is a row of large buildings. There is snow on the ground and trees and the people are wearing warm clothing. The colors consist of mainly dark plain colors such as various shades of browns, blacks, and greys. The street lights are glow with artificial light that is created by a whitish color. The snow is also white but it is tainted with subtle hints of black and brown in some places to create footprints and the illusion that it has been walked on. Hassam blended light colors, such as light greys, blues, and some light pinks, oranges and yellows in the sky, to create the very end of the sunset. The painting is framed by a think black frame that has a gold trim. The museum's usage of the dark frame and lighting allows the painting to appear light and glowing, as Hassam intended, even though most of the colors are darker more plain colors.

Hassam's usage of light, color, and contrast in this painting create multiple illusions that bring the painting to

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