The moment I read that the magazine Critical Read had started a series called “Art is Essential” and tied it to our critical need for beauty and meaning during challenging times like the present, I knew what I was going to submit. One of the most beautiful paintings I have seen is “Boston Common at Twilight” by Childe Hassam. According to a Boston Globe article, so many people love the painting that a poster of it sold in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts gift shop is its number one seller.
My essay, “The Lady at the Common,” on how this painting has given me strength through the pandemic appears in Critical Read’s “Art is Essential” Vol. 7.
— Kitta MacPherson
