The Ashcan school was a group of eight colleges that were bent upon art not being art for art’s sake, but rather art for life. Most of the Ashcan artists held the view of new urban realism. This show is a collection of works pertaining to the Ashcan School and their relation to the impressionist movement. It is evident that William Glackens’ artwork strayed from the views of his colleges in the Ashcan School. While Glackens focused on bright urban living, the other Ashcan artists were focused on portraying New York’s vitality and recording its steamy side, they also concentrated heavily on different social and political events. Although Glackens work was cheerier than the other Ashcan artists, he still used a lot of naturalism and realism. Glackens, unlike the other Ashcans who depicted New York’s streets as dangerous or ugly, depicted those streets near his home with humor and hope. His work is more intently aligned in style and color with that of the Impressionist French movement. Glackens came closer to the works of Monet and Renoir, using short, choppy brush strokes.
This exhibition invites the viewer to experience works from the early 1900’s that will evoke a sense of what life would have been like during that time, and it will feature a work from the impressionist movement that will portray the inspiration for the Ashcan School works. It leaves the viewer with a sense of how life can be viewed as dark and steamy for some, but full hope and humor for others. The mission of this show is to provoke the viewer to wonder: how does Glackens work differ from that of the other Ashcan School artists?
Date: 1910
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 24 x 32 in. (61 x 81.3 cm)
The Met
Accession Number: 37.73
Glackens brush often focused on the bright side of everyday urban living, which is evident in his painting “The Green Car.” He used small brush strokes, much like what is seen in impressionist works, that created movement and rhythm within his piece and captured a bright day that seemed full of humor and hope. This differs much from the other ashcan artists which are said to demonstrate danger and ugly, as there is none of this in “The Green Car.”
“Dutch Girl in White”
Artist: Robert Henri
Date: 1907
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
The Met
Accession Number: 50.47
“Dutch Girl in White” is a piece that Henri, the leader of the Ashcan group, created. His use of impressionist style brush strokes fabricates the Dutch girl’s delicate figure. The girl in this painting is perceived as full of spirit and life. However, following in line with many of the other Ashcan artists, Henri presents a dark atmosphere about her. His dark entailment casts a shadow on this work of urban realism. He projects a romantic style gloom upon the girl.
“The Lafayette”
Artist: John Sloan
Date: 1927
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 30 ½ x 36 1/8 in. (77.5 x 91.8 cm)
The Met
Accession Number: 28.18
The Lafayette was a hotel located at Ninth Street and University Place in New York’s Greenwich Village. Although Sloan had fond memories of the hotel, the year that this work was painted he was in financial hardship. This piece shows a dark, steamy street, much like what was seen in other Ashcan artists works, while also invoking some bright characteristic to illustrate his fondness for the hotel. This painting is meant to express what a night in front of the hotel would have looked like and it exhibits the foundation of urban realism within his work.
“The Old Duchess”
Artist: George Luks
Date: 1905
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
The Met
Accession Number: 21.41.1
Ashcan artist George Luks often focused on urban scenes and figures, such as the “Old Duchess.” The duchess is seen as an old, impoverished woman. She appears to be weary, and the painting manifests a dark luminance about her that is weighing over her. This shadowed effect indicates that the urban woman is struggling, and her grey hair and weary face convey that she has been through a lot. Luks brush creates all this emotion through his use of dark hues and exaggerative strokes, which are techniques that were also used by many of the other Ashcan artists.
“Harlem River”
Artist: Ernest Lawson
Date: ca. 1913
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 25 ¼ x 30 1/8 in. (64.1 x 76.5 cm)
The Met
This Ashcan artist, Lawson, uses oil on canvas to illustrate his perspective of the Washington Bridge, in his work the “Harlem River.” The bridge has wide arches and is a depiction of an ordinary urban scene that people living in that area could pass every day. This portrayal of urban realism is depicted in black and white, instead of the use of color. This work is very choppy, and Lawson emphasized drama and design throughout the piece.
“Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies”
Artist: Claude Monet
Date: 1899
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 36 1/2 x 29 in. (92.7 x 73.7 cm)
The Met
“Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies” is a painting that Monet originated in his water lily garden. Monet used the impressionist style of bold brush strokes and aversions to blend hues to depict the light ripples on the water accompanied with colors creating a smooth reflection. This work is bright, full of color and full of hope. Much like the Ashcan artists he created natural scenes. However, he follows more along the lines of Glackens in that his paintings typically illustrated the humor and hopeful side of everyday life, rather than the dark and steamy.
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