Up the Avenue from 34th Street, May 1917 by Hassam Notebook

Up the Avenue from Thirty-Fourth Street, May 1917 by Childe Hassam is a vintage impressionism fine art urban cityscape painting. A view of Fifth Avenue in New York City from an upper window in a building. The streets are decorated with flags during a parade on a sunny day with crowds of people walking. Hassam was inspired by a "Preparedness Parade" (for the American involvement in World War I) held on Fifth Avenue in New York (renamed the “Avenue of the Allies’’ during the Liberty Loan Drives of 1918). Thousands participated in these parades which often lasted for over twelve hours. In the foreground the flags of the Allied nations hang neatly in a row. The flags represent the harmony of three nations joined in a single cause; “the Fight for democracy.” About the artist: Frederick Childe Hassam (1859-1935) was a prominent and prolific American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and the museums.