WHRHS Arts Blog

Allies Day, May 1917 is one of about thirty oil paintings that Childe Hassam made of New York City’s flag-decked streets during World War I.  On May 13, 1917, the great Preparedness Day parade was held in New York. Since then, the flags were hung and Hassam got his inspiration for Allies Day as well as the rest of the flag series. The flags, hung on Fifth Avenue, Fifty-Seventh Street, and other nearby streets, were hung mainly to show support and pride in the Allies who were fighting in the World War I. On 9 and 11 May 1917 the British and French war commissioners paraded down Fifth Avenue, temporarily proclaimed “the Avenue of the Allies,” to celebrate the United States’ entry into the war. The slogan “Show your colors” brought forth a patriotic flurry of Union Jacks, Tricolors, and Stars and Stripes.  Hassam painted a collection of 24 paintings, commonly called “the flag series”, that depicted the flags hung in New York, Allies Day being part of the series. The flag series were all painted in the morning, but the weather depended. Initially, Hassam had hoped that the collection would stay together. However, his hope was not fulfilled. The paintings were scattered about; some were owned by museums while others were owned by private collectors.