NEW YORK, NY.- William Glackens (1870-1938) was one of the liveliest and most influential American realist painters of the early twentieth century and was a founder of the Ashcan School, and member of the artists group “The Eight.” Glackens helped to introduce modern art to the United States through his collaboration with the collector Albert C. Barnes and had a key role in organizing such landmark exhibitions of American and European avantgarde art as the epochal Armory Show of 1913. Known for his expressive ability in a range of genres, brilliant use of color, and masterly craftsmanship, Glackens favored cheerful subjects of leisure activities over the social realism of others in that circle. A revelatory new monograph, William Glackens accompanies the first major retrospective of his work in almost fifty years.

This richly illustrated volume highlights the finest examples of his works over the course of his career, including paintings previously unknown to the general public, from intimate nudes, portraits, and figure studies, to vivid still lifes, vibrant street scenes, and bright landscapes in which he captured people and their surroundings with spontaneity and spirit. With featured essays by important scholars examining many facets of the artist, including his relationship with French painting; his social observation and interest in fashion and costume; his work as illustrator; his depictions of women; and his role as a tastemaker and art advocate, this long-waited new book establishes Glackens as a pioneering figure in the history of American art.

Avis Berman is an independent writer and art historian. Elizabeth Thompson Colleary is an independent scholar and a research associate at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Heather Campbell Coyle is the curator of American art at the Delaware Art Museum. Judith F. Dolkart is the deputy director of art and archival collections and Gund Family Chief Curator at the Barnes Foundation. Alicia G. Longwell is the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education, Parrish Art Museum. Martha Lucy teaches in the art and art history department at Drexel University and was formerly associate curator at the Barnes Foundation. Patricia Mears is deputy director of the Museum at FIT, New York. Carol Troyen is an independent scholar and the Kristin and Roger Servison Curator Emerita of American Paintings at the MFA, Boston. Emily C. Wood is curatorial assistant at the Whitney Western Art Museum.