From Library Journal
In 1894, writer Celia Thaxter published An Island Garden describing her rambling cottage garden at Appledore, on the rocky Isles of Shoals, ten miles off the New Hampshire coast. American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859-1935) illustrated her book. As a frequent visitor to the Shoals, Hassam created a series of oils, watercolors, and pastels capturing their idyllic serenity. For the first time, Curry has assembled an exhibition of many of the Shoals paintings and has written this catalog to "record not only the beauty of a poet's garden in its glory, but also the flowering of a young artist's dreams." The text provides welcome material where little exists, and the brilliant color plates evoke Hassam's aesthetic philosophy. Recommended for all American art collections.- Joan Levin, Indian Trails P.L., Wheeling, Ill.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
A major book on a major American impressionist. From the late 1880s to around 1915, Childe Hassam, America's foremost impressionist, frequently visited the Isles of Shoals, the site of a summer resort popular with many American artists and writers. Paintings from Hassam's Isles of Shoals series are among the most familiar icons of late nineteenth-century American art. But until now, a comprehensive selection of these beautiful works had not been collected in one place. David Park Curry's informative text provides the background essential to a full appreciation of these works. 105 full-color reproductions and100 black-and-white photographs.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

David Park Curry's informative texts moves from Celia Thaxter's parlor on Appledore, to her garden and the rocky shoreline beyond, tracing the development and importance of Childe Hassam's images of the Isles of Shoals.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal