Continuing the intermittent theme on the New York "Ashcan School." See also William Glackens, Robert Henri, and George Luks (in the index).
The next artist I'm featuring is Everett Shinn.
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Self-Portrait 1901
pastel on paper |
Everett
Shinn (1876 – 1953) was born in Woodstown, New Jersey, a large Quaker
community. His parents were rural farmers. Shinn
left Woodstown at the age of fourteen and enrolled at a technical institution
known as the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia from 1888-1890. The school
specialised in the teaching of mechanical drawing and architecture and was also
attended by fellow member of “The Eight,” John Sloan. Following his education,
Shinn spent a year working at the Thackery Gas Fixture Works designing light
fixtures. After being fired for doodling in the margins of his plans, his
former employer urged him to go into a more creative field, citing the
newspaper and magazine industries as examples.
He began his work for the Philadelphia
Press in 1893 as an illustrator. Many, including Shinn, consider this the
true beginning of his art career. In later years, Shinn would express his great
dismay over the development of photography as the major source of pictorials in
newspapers because it eventually largely replaced his form of art. He continually
moved from paper to paper for the rest of his illustrating career, receiving a
pay increase with each move. The attention to detail necessary for his
newspaper illustrations is reflected in his style and later paintings,
especially those of urban nature.
Shinn has said of his experience at the
Philadelphia Press: "In the Art Department of the Philadelphia Press on
wobbling, ink-stained drawing boards William J. Glackens, George Luks, Everett
Shin and John Sloan went to school, a school now lamentably extinct…a school
that trained memory and quick perception."
It was during Shinn's time in Philadelphia
that artists John Sloan and Joseph Laub established the Charcoal Club as an
alternative art school. The group, whose members were members of "The Eight" such
as Henri, Sloan, Glackens, Luks and Shinn, reached a peak membership of 38 and
sketched nudes and did critiques of each others work. The club is often thought
of as the establishing point of the Philadelphia group, later known as ‘The
Eight’.
In
1897, Shinn was offered a higher paying job as an illustrator for the New York
newspaper, The World. He moved there and was joined shortly there after
by his wife, Flossie, and by other members of the Charcoal Club. Shinn enjoyed
living in the city and observing the eccentric daily hustle and bustle
exemplified by living in New York. Much of Shinn's life and opinions were
reflected in his work. His life in New York was a major subject in many of his
paintings. Shinn often depicted scenes of drama and violence, rallying for
social change and urban understanding. Coinciding with the dramatic themes
found throughout his work, theatre was also a major subject in Shinn's pastels.
In 1899, he quit the newspaper business and
began working for Ainslee's Magazine, a magazine that also employed his
wife, who was by that time a very successful illustrator and who brought in a
good deal of the household income. Shinn also started displaying his work
publicly in 1899 with mixed reactions. In 1900, he and Flossie travelled to
Europe for him study and prepare to produce another exhibit. The trip greatly
influenced his art in years to come during his visit, he saw European art that
was focused on theatrical portrayals, as well as impressionist works.
He
suffered many losses during the Great Depression and sold very few paintings
during that time. Between 1910 and 1937, Shinn held only one exhibition of
paintings at Knoedler's in 1920. Between 1937 and his death in 1953, Shinn
received several awards commending his innovative paintings and participated in
several exhibitions. He died of lung cancer in 1953.
This
is part 1 of a 3-part post on the works of Everett Shinn:
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1898 Snow Storm, Madison Square, New York
pencil and pastel 57.8 x 65.7 cm |
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c1898 New York Harbour
pastel 21.6 x 33.7 cm |
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1899 Street Scene at a Fire
printed illustration 16 x 18 cm |
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1899 Chinese Restaurant
gouache on paper 21.6 x 33.7 cm |
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1899 Horse-drawn Bus
pastel on paper 55.2 x 74.9 cm |
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1899 Madison Square and the Dewey Arch, Cross Streets of New York
pastel, watercolour and gouache on board 74.3 x 46.3 cm |
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| 1899 Magazine Poster |
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1899 The Fight
ink and watercolour on paper 21 x 33.7 cm |
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1899 Winter on 21st Street, New York
pastel on grey paper 51.8 x 61.9 cm |
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c1899 Fifth Avenue
mixed media on paper 51 x 41 cm |
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1900 Back Row, Follies Bergere
pastel on paper 52 x 69 cm |
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1900 Fleishman's Bread Line
pastel and watercolour on paper 21.6 x 34.3 cm |
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1900 Print from Harper's Weekly magazine
35 x 23 cm |
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1900 Progress of the Work on the Underground Railroad
printed illustration from Harper's Weekly 17 x 22 cm |
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c1900-05 Sullivan Street
oil on canvas 20.3 x 25.4 cm |
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c1900 All Night Café
pastel, watercolour and graphite on paper 25 x 33.8 cm |
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1901 Broadway, Late in the Afternoon
printed illustration from Century magazine 15 x 19 cm |
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1901 Cabs on the Fifth Avenue Side of Madison Square
printed illustration from Century magazine 15 x 19 cm |
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1901 The Docks, New York City
pastel on paper 39.4 x 55.9 cm |
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| 1902 Spanish Music Hall |
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1902 The Hippodrome, London
oil on canvas 66.9 x 89.4 cm |
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1902 The Singer
oil on canvas 66.7 x 44.1 cm |
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1902-06 Keith's Union Square
oil on canvas 51.6 x 61.6 cm |
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1903 34th Street
pastel on paper 22.9 x 33 cm |
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1903 Girl in Bathtub
pastel on paper 40.6 x 35.6 cm |
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1903 In the Loge
oil and pastel on canvas 64.8 x 43.5 cm |
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1903 Steps Between Houses Paris Street
pastel on paper 53 x 71 cm |
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1903 Theatre Scene
oil on canvas 55.9 x 63.2 cm |
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1903 Window Shopping
pastel on paper 36.2 x 45.72 cm |
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1904 Eviction ( Lower East Side )
gouache on paper 21.3 x 33.3 cm |
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1904 Matinée Crowd, Manhattan
pastel and gouache on illustration board 46.4 x 27.9 cm |
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1904 The Tightrope Walker
pastel on board 30.5 x 33 cm |
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1904 The White Ballet
oil on canvas 74.9 x 93.3 cm |
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1905 Concert Stage
oil on canvas 41.9 x 50.8 cm |
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1905 Outdoor Stage, France
oil on canvas 62.9 x 54.6 cm |
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1905 Saturday Night
watercolour and pastel on paper 45.1 x 60.3 cm |
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c1905-06 Rehearsal of the Ballet
oil on canvas 45 x 67 cm |
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1906 A French Music Hall
oil on canvas 61 x 74.9 cm |
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