Bailey’s Beach, Newport

“Bailey’s Beach, Newport, R.I.” is an oil painting by Frederick Childe Hassam, an American artist. The painting portrays fashionable Bailey’s Beach in Newport, Rhode Island, an exclusive seaside town known at the time for its wealth and luxury. Hassam depicted sand dunes rising from behind the beach with the promenade and its costumed bathers at a distance, reinforcing the fact that he, and the viewer, are excluded from this privileged setting. The artist’s Impressionist strategies, including the use of scintillating colors, energetic brushwork, and a light palette, capture the vibrant atmosphere of this sunny resort. The painting is an oil on canvas and was created in 1901. The painting is part of the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago

Frederick Childe Hassam was an American Impressionist painter, born on October 17, 1859, in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, and died on August 27, 1935, in East Hampton, New York. He was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums. Hassam was known for his urban and coastal scenes, and he produced over 3,000 paintings, oils, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs over the course of his career. He was one of the most prolific American artists of the early 20th century.