  About the Artwork
  
  
  Two plumes of white steam rise from an unseen boat on the river Seine, signs of modern life juxtaposed with the Gothic towers of the thirteenth-century cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. The artist observed the scene from the Left Bank of the river, punctuating the gray tones of the overcast day with flashes of bold color. The red jacket worn by a child walking along the river, bright white clouds reflected in puddles of water gathered in the gutter, and daubs of green for the gardens in front of the western facade of the cathedral guide a viewer through the mundane and monumental details of the scene.

The Massachusetts artist Childe Hassam painted this canvas during an extended period working and studying in France from 1886 to 1889. An accomplished academic painter when he arrived in Paris, he spent his time there absorbing a modern impressionist style for works like this.
  
  
  Title
  Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, 1888
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1888
  
  Artist
  Childe Hassam
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1859-1935
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 17 1/2 × 21 1/2 inches (44.5 × 54.6 cm)
  Framed: 29 3/4 × 34 × 3 1/2 inches (75.6 × 86.4 × 8.9 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  American Art before 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  79.143
  
  
  Copyright
  ----------
