During an 1886-89 stay in Paris, this Boston painter experimented with working in oils outdoors. He gradually abandoned the dark-toned palette of the Barbizon masters for the brighter colors of the French Impressionists. Hassam named this study of a nude model, painted as if posed on a cliff, after the siren in the German poet Heinrich Heine's Die Lorelei (1827). In the poem, the Lorelei, a water spirit dwelling in the treacherous rocks along the Rhine River, lures ships to their destruction with her tantalizing singing Title The Lorelei Creator Childe Hassam (American, 1859-1935) Date Created 1904 Roles Artist Childe Hassam (American, 1859-1935) Provenance Purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, possibly 1905 [1]; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931. [1] this painting was possibly acquired at the National Academy of Design exhibition of 1905, where it won the Thomas B. Clarke Prize Object Type oil paintings Medium oil on canvas Inscriptions [Signature] Lower right Childe Hassam; [Date] Lower right 1904 Exhibitions The Walters' American Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2005-2006. Dimensions H 25 1/8 x W 21 1/16 in. (63.8 x 53.5 cm) Credit Line Acquired by Henry Walters, 1905 (?) Classification Painting & Drawing Accession Number 37.31
