I found Hassam’s picture Washington Arch, depicting the arch modeled after the French Arc de Triomphe. The arch is located in Washington Square Park, easily accessible from the Astor Place train stop.
I realize now that I was a bit further back than where Hassam was likely to be standing, but I tried to capture the image of the trees in the opening of the arch as shown in the painting. A building has sprung up in the background, and the street has given way to a wide walkway for the public. The shadows in Hassam’s painting are much longer, it was probably made at an earlier time of day, and the trees and people appear to shrink as they are drawn closer to the vanishing point.
Very interesting. You have found where the trees are today, but sacrificed the artist location and view point, (the historical perspective). It would have been helpful if you actually taken another picture with the close up from the other direction and gave us a comparison of both angles
Very true, I hadn’t thought of that while I was there, but I’ll definitely take that into account for the next seminar trip. I also forgot to mention that I was accompanied by Anthony Ventimiglia.