Bowling on the Green (from the Bicentennial Pageant of George Washington)

Childe F. Hassam

'Bowling on the Green', by printmaker Frederick Childe Hassam, depicts George Washington and friends lawn bowling at Mount Vernon and was included in the 'Bicentennial Pageant of George Washington' portfolio, done in 1931 (Cortissoz, 377). It is monogrammed in pencil, lower right and titled in pencil lower left in an unknown hand, signed and dated in the plate; printed by Peter Platt and/or Henry E. Carling; etching on laid paper with eagle & shield and "GW" watermarks.

This etching, 'Bowling on the Green', was included in the 1932 publication 'The Bicentennial Pageant of George Washington', (also called “The Life of George Washington) was edited by John Taylor Arms and printed in England (a bit of irony) by Henry E. Carling on laid paper with watermarks “GW” (George Washington's monogram) and an eagle and shield coat of arms that was handmade at Head Mill, Maidstone, England and published by the American Art Foundation in an edition of 1000 (plus 20 artists’ proofs).

The marketing for the portfolio read: “The American Art Foundation has the honor to announce Twenty Masterpieces in Etching each executed by one of America’s most distinguished artists.”

Originally commissioned by private investors, each artist was asked to complete a piece relating to George Washington, his private and public life. The respective artist signed each print in the portfolio at the time of issue, and the entire set bears those original signatures. Included among the artists are: William Auerbach-Levy, Ralph Boyer, Samuel Chamberlain, Kerr Eby, Sears Gallagher, Childe Hassam, Arthur William Heintzelman, Eugene Higgins, Earl Horter, Robert Lawson, Allen Lewis, F. Luis Mora, Robert H. Nisbet, Louis C. Rosenberg, Ernest David Roth, Albert Sterner, Walter Tittle, Levon West, J.W. Winkler, and George Wright.

It is of interest that all of the artists were confined to a specific subject and to a specific format and all of the prints included in the portfolio tend, in my opinion, to be amongst each artist’s weakest works.