Born on Oct. 17, 1859 in Dorchester, MA. Hassam was apprenticed to a Boston wood engraver as a boy. His art studies began at the Boston Art Club (1878) and while studying at Académie Julian in Paris (1886-89), he was greatly influenced by Boulanger and Lefebvre. Returning to the U.S. with medals from the Paris Salons, he became one of the best-known Impressionists in the U.S and was elected to the National Academy. He was in San Francisco in 1908, 1914, and again in 1915 during the Panama Pacific International Exhibition, at which an entire room was devoted to his work. In 1927 he spent several months painting in southern California, and made his final trip to San Francisco in 1929. Hassam was an oil painter as well as a skilled etcher and lithographer. He died in Easthampton, NY on Aug. 27, 1935. Exh: Mechanics’ Inst. Fair (SF), 1886; Palace Hotel (SF), 1914; CPLH, 1929 (solo). In: Oakland Museum; PAFA; MM; Denver Museum; Library of Congress; CGA.
