Rocks and Sea, Isle of Shoals

Childe Hassam

1912

Oil on canvas

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

As the leading exponent of Impressionism in the United States, Hassam was often compared to Claude Monet, much to Hassam’s annoyance. While certainly aware of Monet, Hassam identified more strongly with other artistic influences, such as the work of J. M. W. Turner, the writings of John Ruskin, and the “aesthetic movement” in general, which swept through New England in the late nineteenth century. The Isles of Shoals are a group of small, rocky islands about ten miles off the New Hampshire coast, near Portsmouth. Hassam spent many summers on the largest island, Appledore, drawn, like many fellow artists, writers, and musicians, by t