During the summer of 1910, Hassam made a trip to Europe with his wife. On July 21, he wrote to his friend, the artist J. Alden Weir, that he had been in Paris for two weeks, found it dirty and noisy, and was about to move on, but he added, "I have made a 14th July from the balcony here." This is evidently the painting that he mentioned. It depicts a view from an elevated vantage point of the Hôtel l'Empire at 7 rue Daunou to the flag-bedecked street below during the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on July 14. The canvas is an important precursor to Hassam's Flag series of 1916–18, which includesAvenue of the Allies, Great Britain, 1918 (67.187.127).

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