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William Glackens
INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards -- 2014 Finalist
A monumental new monograph accompanying the first major retrospective in fifty years of the work of William Glackens, an important American realist painter. This richly illustrated volume provides a comprehensive introduction to William Glackens (1870-1938), one of the liveliest and most influential American painters of the early twentieth century. A founder of the Ashcan School, along with painters such as Robert Henri and John Sloan, Glackens was crucial to the introduction of modern art in the United States through his collaboration with Albert C. Barnes and his championing of landmark exhibitions of American and European avant-garde art. The finest examples of his works over a fifty-year career, including paintings previously unknown to the general public, are reproduced here-from intimate nudes, portraits, and figure studies to vivid still lifes, vibrant street scenes, and landscapes, in which he captured people and their surroundings with matchless spontaneity and spirit. The book features essays by important scholars examining the artist's relationship with French painting, his social observation and interest in costume, his depiction of women, and his role as a tastemaker.
A monumental new monograph accompanying the first major retrospective in fifty years of the work of William Glackens, an important American realist painter. This richly illustrated volume provides a comprehensive introduction to William Glackens (1870-1938), one of the liveliest and most influential American painters of the early twentieth century. A founder of the Ashcan School, along with painters such as Robert Henri and John Sloan, Glackens was crucial to the introduction of modern art in the United States through his collaboration with Albert C. Barnes and his championing of landmark exhibitions of American and European avant-garde art. The finest examples of his works over a fifty-year career, including paintings previously unknown to the general public, are reproduced here-from intimate nudes, portraits, and figure studies to vivid still lifes, vibrant street scenes, and landscapes, in which he captured people and their surroundings with matchless spontaneity and spirit. The book features essays by important scholars examining the artist's relationship with French painting, his social observation and interest in costume, his depiction of women, and his role as a tastemaker.
- GenresArt
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 18, 2014
9 people want to read
About the author
Avis Berman
42 books4 followersAvis Berman is a writer and art historian. She directs the oral history project of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 4, 2019
Who is this guy and why should we want to spend any precious time with him?
Speaking of time, it hasn’t been very kind to him. Perhaps, because there is no “bright line” of his creative arc. He was open to many influences. Berman notes: “These contradictions and misapprehensions have colored critical and historical perspectives…of the artist…who combined an extraordinary visual acuity with an equally strong need for independence.” This book accompanies the first major show of his work in the past half century. The exhibit toured during 2014-15. I was captivated by the exhibit and wanted to delve deeper.
Though Glackens began in Philadelphia as an illustrator, he made his reputation in New York City. The fact that he married well allowed him to have a studio on Washington Park in Manhattan. Even with this, he did not become a simple portrait artist for his rich friends. His illustrations, particularly his pen and ink work, give us some amazing insights into this city in the decade before and the decade after the start of the Twentieth Century. He had a ready audience for his sketches of everyday life in this urban environment and the subject matter of his paintings often was a complex representation of the changing roles of women in society. For instance, he may have been the best at focusing on the phenomenon of urban “shopping” and the rise of the department store that not only validated women going out to casually shop but also provided the jobs for independent women that were better than most could attain otherwise. This book explores successively: “Early Years; Draftsman; Urban Arcadia; Women; Advocate; Shore Scenes; Fashion; French Art; and, Still Life.”
Looking at his canvases, it is obvious that he worked hard and studied long the paintings of the French Impressionists. If he experimented with certain aspects of their approach, he didn’t ape it. He had a group of fellow artists that were more interested in realistic representation and his work tended in that direction. As his style matured, he brought in bolder colors and became as important in showing how the urbanites vacationed as how they worked. You can appreciate how he has perfected his skills as he matures, but you can also see how he perfects his observational skills. The book traces his career in terms of several successive themes. He had a happy marriage and a home with children that brought him contentment. His work was celebrated in his own time and he did not have to do something else “to make ends meet.” Not many artists were so fortunate. This, as you may surmise, did permeate his art and the tensions in each painting may be a bit more subtle than in his contemporaries.
Aside from his own work, Glackens is known as the school buddy of Alfred Barnes, the man whose collection of Impressionist art may be the greatest in the world. Barnes turned to his old friend when he determined that he wanted to become an art collector and Glackens both “enlightened” Barnes and was willing to go on extended trips through Europe to purchase the foundation of the Barnes collection. This friendship endured for decades and we all benefit from it.
The book is a Rizzoli publication and has all the careful and vibrant representation of each work that we have come to expect. The downside is only that this thick and oversized book may be difficult for some to handle and, if dropped, could cause serious injury to a foot or pet. All in all, Glackens deserves this treatment and I am delighted to have been able (through the exhibition and this book) to get to know him much better.
Speaking of time, it hasn’t been very kind to him. Perhaps, because there is no “bright line” of his creative arc. He was open to many influences. Berman notes: “These contradictions and misapprehensions have colored critical and historical perspectives…of the artist…who combined an extraordinary visual acuity with an equally strong need for independence.” This book accompanies the first major show of his work in the past half century. The exhibit toured during 2014-15. I was captivated by the exhibit and wanted to delve deeper.
Though Glackens began in Philadelphia as an illustrator, he made his reputation in New York City. The fact that he married well allowed him to have a studio on Washington Park in Manhattan. Even with this, he did not become a simple portrait artist for his rich friends. His illustrations, particularly his pen and ink work, give us some amazing insights into this city in the decade before and the decade after the start of the Twentieth Century. He had a ready audience for his sketches of everyday life in this urban environment and the subject matter of his paintings often was a complex representation of the changing roles of women in society. For instance, he may have been the best at focusing on the phenomenon of urban “shopping” and the rise of the department store that not only validated women going out to casually shop but also provided the jobs for independent women that were better than most could attain otherwise. This book explores successively: “Early Years; Draftsman; Urban Arcadia; Women; Advocate; Shore Scenes; Fashion; French Art; and, Still Life.”
Looking at his canvases, it is obvious that he worked hard and studied long the paintings of the French Impressionists. If he experimented with certain aspects of their approach, he didn’t ape it. He had a group of fellow artists that were more interested in realistic representation and his work tended in that direction. As his style matured, he brought in bolder colors and became as important in showing how the urbanites vacationed as how they worked. You can appreciate how he has perfected his skills as he matures, but you can also see how he perfects his observational skills. The book traces his career in terms of several successive themes. He had a happy marriage and a home with children that brought him contentment. His work was celebrated in his own time and he did not have to do something else “to make ends meet.” Not many artists were so fortunate. This, as you may surmise, did permeate his art and the tensions in each painting may be a bit more subtle than in his contemporaries.
Aside from his own work, Glackens is known as the school buddy of Alfred Barnes, the man whose collection of Impressionist art may be the greatest in the world. Barnes turned to his old friend when he determined that he wanted to become an art collector and Glackens both “enlightened” Barnes and was willing to go on extended trips through Europe to purchase the foundation of the Barnes collection. This friendship endured for decades and we all benefit from it.
The book is a Rizzoli publication and has all the careful and vibrant representation of each work that we have come to expect. The downside is only that this thick and oversized book may be difficult for some to handle and, if dropped, could cause serious injury to a foot or pet. All in all, Glackens deserves this treatment and I am delighted to have been able (through the exhibition and this book) to get to know him much better.
October 12, 2017
The very best repository of Glackens information. Details of many of his works.
March 9, 2019
Great book on this Euro/American impressionistic painter. This is made up of summaries by different writers of the different periods in his life and influences. The colored plates are to die for.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews