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The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate

The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate, also known as The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate, Sausalito, California, is a 1914 painting by American Impressionist Childe Hassam. The painting features a depiction of the Golden Gate Strait, the narrow passage that connects the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean in the distance, from a position viewed near Sausalito. The "silver veil" in the title refers to the famous weather phenomenon of the San Francisco fog. Hassam was in the Bay Area at the time working on preparations for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition the next year.[1]

The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate
ArtistChilde Hassam Edit this on Wikidata
Year1914
Mediumoil paint, canvas
Dimensions30 in (76 cm) × 32 in (81 cm)
LocationBrauer Museum of Art
Accession No.67.02 Edit this on Wikidata
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Background

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Childe Hassam worked as an artist in New York and New England, but he made three trips to the San Francisco Bay Area between 1908 and 1927.[2] By 1912, Hassam had become highly recognized as an artist, winning more than 20 awards for his work.[3] In January 1913, architect Henry Bacon, who engineered and designed the Lincoln Memorial, helped Hassam receive a commission to paint a mural (Fruits and Flowers) for the upcoming Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.[4] A month later, a dozen of his works appeared at the International Exhibition of Modern Art at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City until mid-March, then traveling to the Art Institute of Chicago, where Hassam showed 13 paintings on the second leg of the tour.[4]

Development

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In February of 1914, Hassam voyaged to California to prepare his mural for the Exposition the following year. In San Francisco, he installed his mural above the entrance of the Palace of Education, on the west side of the Palace of Fine Arts.[4] The mural was not well received by critics.[2] While in the Bay Area, Hassam stayed at the Bohemian Club, but during his visit he was hospitalized after a brief illness.[4] In the city, he completed the painting Telegraph Hill. At some point after this health scare, he traveled just north of the city where he spent time painting landscapes in San Anselmo (Hill of the Sun, San Anselmo, California) and Sausalito,[2]​ where he completed The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate. Hassam's work in Sausalito focuses on the beauty of the San Francisco Bay and the structure and arrangement of the fog and clouds. The painting is similar in scope and approach to works he previously completed in Oregon.[5] Hassam continued painting in Carmel,[2]​ where he worked along with artist Francis John McComas (1875–1938) in Point Lobos,[6] finally leaving California in March.[4]

Description

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From the vantage point of Sausalito, an ethereal fog is seen, a silver veil gracefully enveloping the hills above the San Francsico Bay, merging with the landscape and creating a harmonious symphony of cool tones in the upper right.[2] The work is signed in blue and red paint on the bottom right of the canvas, Childe Hassan / Sausalito 1914.[5]

Reception

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The painting was first reviewed at an exhibition in 1915 at the Montross Gallery in New York. It was among more than 100 works that were shown, of which 22 were oil paintings. Of this group, there were a total of 11 paintings shown in the California series,[7] of which Spring Morning in California, Spring Afternoon in the California Hills, and The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate were described in a review for American Art News. Art critic "A. v. C." made note of the filtered sunlight effects common to Impressionism and remarked that the painting of The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate was reminiscent of J. M. W. Turner.[8]

Provenance

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Upon Hassam's death in 1935, The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate was part of a more than 400 piece artwork bequest to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The painting was put up for sale sometime before 1964 and purchased by Valparaiso University in 1967 with the Sloan fund.[5]

California series

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In comparison to his total output of approximately 4000 works, Hassam's focus on California is somewhat rare, as the number of items he created in that region between 1908 and 1927 only numbers around 12.[6] The 12 paintings in the California series include:

  1. Madroñes Hill[7]
  2. The California Hills (The Little Vineyard)[7]
  3. Spring Morning in California[7]
  4. Telegraph Hill[7]
  5. The Eucalyptus in Blossom[7]
  6. The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate[7]
  7. Spring Afternoon in the California Hills[7]
  8. Hill of the Sun, San Anselmo, California[7]
  9. Eucalyptus Trees, Spring[7]
  10. San Anselmo[7]
  11. Point Lobos[7]
  12. California[9]
  •  
    California Hills in Spring (The Little Vineyard) (1914)
  •  
    Telegraph Hill (1914)
  •  
    Hill of the Sun, San Anselmo, California (1914)
  •  
    Point Lobos, Carmel (1914)

Selected exhibitions

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  • Montross Gallery, New York, 1915[4]
  • St. Botolph Club, Boston, 1916[4]
  • Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, 1916[4]
  • Childe Hassam in Indiana, Ball State University Art Gallery, 1985[5]
  • Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West, Portland Art Museum, 2004[10]

References

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  1. ^ ​Landauer, Susan (1996). California Impressionists. Irvine Museum : Georgia Museum of Art. p. 12, 36, 38, 46, 65, 91 ISBN 9780915977222. OCLC 1391294845.
  2. ^ a b c d e ​Nash, Steven A.; Berkson, Bill. (1995). Facing Eden: 100 years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: University of California Press. p. 43-4, 45, 58, 196.ISBN 9780520203624.
  3. ^ Steadman, William E. (1972). Childe Hassam, 1859-1935. University of Arizona Museum of Art. p. 147. OCLC 680449204.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Weinberg, H. Barbara; Barker, Elizabeth E. (2004). Childe Hassam, American impressionist. Metropolitan Museum of Art; Yale University Press. pp. 371, 373-403. ISBN 9781588391193. OCLC 54500279.
  5. ^ a b c d Joyaux, Alain G.; Moore, Brian A.; Griner, Ned H. (1985). Childe Hassam in Indiana. Ball State University Art Gallery. no. 10. pp. 42-43. ISBN 9780915511037. OCLC 952266965.
  6. ^ a b "Curator notes". Point Lobos, Carmel. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Exhibition of Pictures by Childe Hassam. Montross Gallery. New York: The Gallery. 1915.
  8. ^ A.v.C. (December 4, 1915). "Childe Hassam at Montross'". American Art News. 14 (9): 5.
  9. ^ Hassam, Childe (2017)[1919]. California. Christie's. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Bullock, Margaret E. Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West. Portland Art Museum, 2004, no. 51. ISBN 9781883124199. OCLC 607494379.
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