Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Mrs. John Eva Kingsley McGowan, Providence, Rhode Island
Mr. Edmund Steuart Davis, New York
John T. Dorrance, Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Childe Hassam
(American, 1859–1935)
Horse Drawn Cabs at Evening, New York
c. 1890
Watercolor on paper
Image: 14 x 17 3/4 in. (35.6 x 45.1 cm)
Frame: 21 5/16 x 25 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (54.1 x 64.8 x 7.0 cm)
Frame: 21 5/16 x 25 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (54.1 x 64.8 x 7.0 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.66
SignedSigned and inscribed lower left: Childe Hassam/N.Y.
InterpretationChilde Hassam’s Horse Drawn Cabs at Evening, New York is a view looking toward Madison Square in lower Manhattan. Landmarks are obscured by rain and twilight, however, and Hassam uses the fluid watercolor medium to focus on the effects of light shimmering on wet pavement and the movement of passersby under umbrellas and horse-drawn cabs in the street. The deeply receding diagonal of the straight thoroughfare, which structures the composition, is an important feature of many of Hassam’s early city views, such as the Terra Foundation’s oil painting Commonwealth Avenue, Boston (TF 1992.39). Drawn since the beginning of his painting career to the subject of city streets, Hassam made it his specialty after he moved to New York from his native Boston in 1889, shortly after a three-year sojourn in Paris. As demonstrated in such works as Une Averse—Rue Bonaparte (TF 1993.20), also in the Terra Foundation’s collection, he was particularly drawn to the theme of cabs and their drivers, and he is said to have painted works such as Horse Drawn Cabs at Evening, New York from a perch on a cab, using the front seat as his easel. Hassam’s interest in the details of modern urban life and its incessant flux, along with his use of flickering, broken brushwork to convey it, mark his conversion to impressionism.
Mrs. John Eva Kingsley McGowan, Providence, Rhode Island
Mr. Edmund Steuart Davis, New York
John T. Dorrance, Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition History
Princeton Alumni Collections: Work on Paper, The Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey, April 26–June 21, 1981. [exh. cat.]
Domestic Bliss: Family Life in America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.
Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]
The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]
Domestic Bliss: Family Life in America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.
Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]
The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]
Czestochowski, Joseph. "Childe Hassam, Paintings from 1880–1900." American Art Review 4, no. 4 (January 1978): 40–49. Text p. 47; ill. p. 49.
Princeton Alumni Collections: Works on Paper. (exh. cat., Princeton University Art Museum). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Art Museum in association with Princeton University Press, 1981. Ill. p. 143.
Fort, Ilene Susan. Childe Hassam's New York. San Francisco, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1993. Ill. no. 2 (color).
Kilian, Michael. “High Society Two New York Art Exhibits Reflect Gilded Age: Chicagoland Final Edition.” Chicago Tribune (June 12, 1994). Text.
Cartwright, Derrick. "The City and Country: American Perspectives 1870–1920." American Art Review 7:1 (January–February 2000): 100-11. Ill. p. 105 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 24 (checklist); ill. p. 31 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 24 (checklist); ill. p. 31 (color).
Kennedy, Elizabeth. The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2003. Text p. 28 (checklist).
Kennedy, Elizabeth. Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2003. Text p. 28 (checklist).
Weber, Bruce. Paintings of New York, 1800–1950. San Francisco, CA: Pomegranate Books, 2005. Text p. 16; ill. p. 19 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 142, 143; ill. p. 142, detail pp. 144–145 (color).
Princeton Alumni Collections: Works on Paper. (exh. cat., Princeton University Art Museum). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Art Museum in association with Princeton University Press, 1981. Ill. p. 143.
Fort, Ilene Susan. Childe Hassam's New York. San Francisco, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1993. Ill. no. 2 (color).
Kilian, Michael. “High Society Two New York Art Exhibits Reflect Gilded Age: Chicagoland Final Edition.” Chicago Tribune (June 12, 1994). Text.
Cartwright, Derrick. "The City and Country: American Perspectives 1870–1920." American Art Review 7:1 (January–February 2000): 100-11. Ill. p. 105 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 24 (checklist); ill. p. 31 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 24 (checklist); ill. p. 31 (color).
Kennedy, Elizabeth. The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2003. Text p. 28 (checklist).
Kennedy, Elizabeth. Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2003. Text p. 28 (checklist).
Weber, Bruce. Paintings of New York, 1800–1950. San Francisco, CA: Pomegranate Books, 2005. Text p. 16; ill. p. 19 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 142, 143; ill. p. 142, detail pp. 144–145 (color).