We look beyond a cluster of flags hanging from the side of one tall building onto a wide street at a row of buildings across from us in this vertical painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes, so some details are difficult to make out. We seem to lean out a window to look along the street, so the building to our right only skims the edge of the composition and continues off the top. The three flags closest to us fly from nearly horizontal flagstaffs along the bottom edge of the painting. All the flags are in shades of scarlet red, white, and royal blue. The flag closest to us is red with the red, white, and blue Union Jack in the upper corner. Beyond it is an American flag with 49 stars, and then the French flag with the vertical bands of blue, white, and red. Those three flags are repeated about a dozen times along the building that stretches away from us, along the right edge of the painting. More of those flags are hung from the cream-white and tan buildings across the street, to our left. Some of those buildings reach off the top edge of the canvas and others come close. The shadows along moldings and the windows are painted with pale and lapis blue. Through narrow gaps left between the fluttering flags, vertical strokes of navy blue and violet purple suggest crowds of people in the street below. The sky between the buildings is ice blue. The artist signed and dated the painting in the center left, “Childe Hassam May 17 1917.”

Allies Day, May 1917

Childe Hassam

We look beyond a cluster of flags hanging from the side of one tall building onto a wide street at a row of buildings across from us in this vertical painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes, so some details are difficult to make out. We seem to lean out a window to look along the street, so the building to our right only skims the edge of the composition and continues off the top. The three flags closest to us fly from nearly horizontal flagstaffs along the bottom edge of the painting. All the flags are in shades of scarlet red, white, and royal blue. The flag closest to us is red with the red, white, and blue Union Jack in the upper corner. Beyond it is an American flag with 49 stars, and then the French flag with the vertical bands of blue, white, and red. Those three flags are repeated about a dozen times along the building that stretches away from us, along the right edge of the painting. More of those flags are hung from the cream-white and tan buildings across the street, to our left. Some of those buildings reach off the top edge of the canvas and others come close. The shadows along moldings and the windows are painted with pale and lapis blue. Through narrow gaps left between the fluttering flags, vertical strokes of navy blue and violet purple suggest crowds of people in the street below. The sky between the buildings is ice blue. The artist signed and dated the painting in the center left, “Childe Hassam May 17 1917.”

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
Childe Hassam
Date
1917
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 92.7 x 76.8 cm (36 1/2 x 30 1/4 in.) framed: 110.8 x 94.3 x 6.4 cm (43 5/8 x 37 1/8 x 2 1/2 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gift of Ethelyn McKinney in memory of her brother, Glenn Ford McKinney

Art Genome Taxonomy

7 tags

Subject Matter

  • Political Events Both · 98%

    The title identifies an Allies Day in May 1917, and the image prominently depicts repeated American, British, and French flags displayed across an urban setting.

  • Cityscapes and City Scenes Both · 99%

    The composition shows tall buildings, a receding street, and an oblique view along urban façades; the catalog describes a wide street lined with buildings.

  • Crowds Both · 95%

    Small, clustered figures are visible in the street below, and the catalog describes vertical strokes suggesting crowds.

Visual Qualities

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 99%

    Scarlet red, royal blue, white, and pale blue dominate the flags and architectural surfaces, creating a strongly vivid palette.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The National Gallery of Art records the medium as oil on canvas.

  • Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Both · 98%

    Separate, energetic brushstrokes remain visible across the flags, buildings, sky, and distant figures; the catalog also characterizes the scene as loosely painted with visible brushstrokes.

Time Periods

  • 1900 - 1917 Art Metadata · 100%

    The work is dated 1917, placing it within the catalog’s 1900–1917 period.

Source & rights

Childe Hassam. Allies Day, May 1917. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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