Can you please give me a biography of the American artist William Glackens, who was a member of the Ashcan school? Dear Visitor,
Dear Joan of Art,
Can you please give me a biography of the American artist William Glackens, who was a member of the Ashcan school? Dear Visitor,
Artist William Glackens was born on March 13, 1870 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died May 22, 1938 in Westport, Connecticut.
The following biographical entry is excerpted from The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, a subscription service:
"American painter and illustrator. He graduated in 1889 from Central High School, Philadelphia, where he had known Albert C. Barnes, who later became a noted collector of modern art.
"He became a reporter-illustrator for the Philadelphia Record in 1891 and later for the Philadelphia Press. In 1892 he began to attend evening classes in drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, studying under Thomas Anshutz. In the same year he became a friend and follower of Robert Henri, who persuaded him to take up oil painting in 1894. Henri's other students, some of whom were referred to as the Ashcan school, included George Luks, Everett Shinn and John Sloan, also artist/reporters; together with Henri they formed the nucleus of the Eight.…
"By 1905 Glackens had adopted a style of high-keyed Impressionism.… Glackens became increasingly interested in Auguste Renoir's use of colour… and soon discarded urban themes in favour of studio models, still-lifes, landscapes, and seaside subjects."
Sincerely,
Joan of Art
Source: Grove Dictionary of Art Online at http://www.groveart.com.
Pictured: William Glackens, 1870–1938, Beach Scene , before 1930, oil on linen, 18 x 24 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Flora E.H. Shawan from the Ferdinand Howald Collection.