Where Is The Avenue in the Rain? See It at White House

Q: Where is this painting displayed?

It's part of the White House permanent collection. The painting has hung in the Oval Office under several presidents and is among the most frequently displayed works in the building.

Q: Who painted The Avenue in the Rain?

Childe Hassam created this in February 1917. He was the leading American Impressionist and painted about thirty flag-themed works during World War I.

Q: What inspired the flag paintings?

Hassam witnessed a Preparedness Parade in New York in 1916, before America entered World War I. The visual spectacle of flags lining Fifth Avenue inspired this series.

Q: What style is this painting?

It's American Impressionism, influenced by Monet's paintings of French flags. Hassam used broken brushstrokes to capture rain and the blurring of red, white, and blue.

American artist Childe Hassam painted this patriotic scene in February 1917, showing Fifth Avenue decorated with American flags on a rainy day. The flags project into the composition from unseen anchor points, their stripes blurring in the wet atmosphere. Pedestrians with umbrellas move along the sidewalk below.

This is one of about thirty "flag paintings" Hassam created between 1916 and 1919, inspired by a Preparedness Parade he witnessed in 1916. The spectacle of thousands of flags lining city streets moved him deeply. This particular work was painted just weeks before the United States declared war on Germany.

The painting was donated to the White House in 1963 and has hung in the Oval Office under multiple presidents, including Kennedy, Clinton, Obama, and Biden. Hassam, considered the leading American Impressionist, captured both the visual drama of rain and the patriotic fervor of the moment.

It's part of the White House permanent collection. The painting has hung in the Oval Office under several presidents and is among the most frequently displayed works in the building.

Childe Hassam created this in February 1917. He was the leading American Impressionist and painted about thirty flag-themed works during World War I.

Hassam witnessed a Preparedness Parade in New York in 1916, before America entered World War I. The visual spectacle of flags lining Fifth Avenue inspired this series.

It's American Impressionism, influenced by Monet's paintings of French flags. Hassam used broken brushstrokes to capture rain and the blurring of red, white, and blue.

The Avenue in the Rain

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Childe Hassam

Maude Sewing

Allies Day, May 1917

Related Impressionism Works

Woman with a Parasol

Two Sisters (On the Terrace)

Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies

Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1

Luncheon of the Boating Party

Luncheon of the Boating Party

Water Lilies (Nymphéas)

Impression, Sunrise

About The Avenue in the Rain

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