Childe Hassam American, 1859-1935
92.1 x 56.5 cm
Victory Won by Childe Hassam remains a symbol of peace, patriotism, and national identity. The work belongs to the artist's celebrated series of approximately twenty-four Flag Paintings, executed between 1916 and 1919, and depicts New York City's Fifth Avenue from West 49th Street at 9:30 in the morning in early May 1919—conceivably May 6, when New York welcomed home its Seventy-Seventh Infantry Division with a victory parade. The series remains Hassam's most sought-after subject and stands among the defining achievements of American Impressionism. As art historian William H. Gerdts observed, although Hassam had long been identified with an essential "Americanness," in these paintings "he was able to give the modern cityscape patriotic and spiritual resonance. This pictorial sequence constitutes one of the greatest achievements of American art."[1] Victory Won embodies this synthesis of national identity, democratic ideals, and modern urban spectacle.
[1] William H. Gerdts, "For God and Country," in Childe Hassam: Impressionist (New York: Abbeville Press, 1999), p. 222.
Provenance
The artist, until 1935; by bequest to
The present owner
Exhibitions
Milch Galleries, New York, The Flag Paintings, May 20-June 30, 1919
Church of the Ascension, New York, The Flag Paintings (A Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt), October 27-November 27, 1919
College of the City of New York, The Flag Paintings, December 1919-January 28, 1920
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Exhibition of the Series of Flag Pictures by Childe Hassam, February 1922, no. 14 as Victory Won
Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York, Childe Hassam, An Exhibition of His “Flag Series” Commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of Armistice Day, November 12-30, 1968, no. 1
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Visions of New York City, March 1981
National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C., Los Angeles County Museum, California; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; and the New York Historical Society, New York, The Flag Paintings of Childe Hassam, 1988-1989
Art in Embassies Program, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Residence, Waldorf Towers, New York, October 2000
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, June 7-September 12, 2004
Literature
Nathaniel Pousette-Dart, Childe Hassam, New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1922, illus.
Charles Van Cise Wheeler, Sketches, Washington, D.C., 1922, p. 120
Aline Kistler, “Childe Hassam Paintings Disappoint,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 1929, p. D5
Ilene Susan Fort, The Flag Paintings of Childe Hassam, Los Angeles, California, 1988, pp. 80-81, illus. in color
Ilene Susan Fort, Childe Hassam’s New York, San Franciso: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1993, p. xiv, illus.Warren Adelson, Jay E. Cantor and William H. Gerdts, Childe Hassam: Impressionist, New York, 1999, p. 221, illus. in color p. 223
H. Barbara Weinberg, et al., Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, New York, 2004, p. 225, illus. in color p. 224
Monday–Friday: 10 AM–6 PM
Saturday: 12–5 PM
390 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York 10013
(212) 879-8815
The gallery will close at 4 PM on Thursday, November 5, 2026 for a private event.