Painters of the Ashcan School: The Immortal Eight

by Bennard B. Perlman

Lively, scholarly, beautifully illustrated study of the 8 artists who brought a compelling new realism to American painting, 1870 to 1913. Henri, Glackens, Sloan, Luks, 4 more. 142 black-and-white illustrations. Bibliography. Introduction.

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1988

About the author

Bennard B. Perlman was a Baltimore artist, professor, critic, lecturer and author.

Reviews

[Stephen Hawks · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this book seems to be written in the style of a former less cynical age. It is less critical than informative, historical, and celebratory. My sister Andrea gave it to me for my birthday and it contains one brief passage on my father's teacher Richard Lahey from The Corcrain School of Art, in affiliation with George Washington University. I am reading it sitting with my fall Design 1 class while they are working. One thing I would like to see is better and more comprehensive illustrations. It is a great resource as it is but could be incredible. The Ashcan is the seminal modern school in America, truly American with American roots (specifically Homer and Eakins), while also assimilating the latter half of European, specifically Early French modernism, starting with Courbet and Manet.
After looking at what I have written above, I realize that I should add that by saying "seminal modern school in America" I should qualify that this group is predominately of european origin and white. They were before the Armory show of which many participated but were also rendered retro by its impact. They fought against the academies in America while also intermittently being a part of them, like Courbet and the impressionists 50 years or more before in France.