United States

Glackens was a realist at odds with artistic conventions. Here, he employed dashing brushstrokes and rich, brilliant color to capture the rowdy hustle and bustle of a springtime celebration in New York’s Central Park. Well-dressed children wrestle and play in the sunlight while, in the shade, a maypole teeters, largely ignored. The artist, who worked as a newspaper illustrator, is particularly successful in conveying the energetic play of the children in a spontaneous and vigorous style.

Glackens was a realist at odds with artistic conventions. Here, he employed dashing brushstrokes and rich, brilliant color to capture the rowdy hustle and bustle of a springtime celebration in New York’s Central Park. Well-dressed children wrestle and play in the sunlight while, in the shade, a maypole teeters, largely ignored. The artist, who worked as a newspaper illustrator, is particularly successful in conveying the energetic play of the children in a spontaneous and vigorous style.

When this painting was shown in New York City in 1916, a reviewer commented: “In work of an uninspired artist you can speak of this or that subject as a ‘type,’ but Mr. Luks does not paint types—he paints the individual. And it is not a likeness, but an ideal, as seen in Innocence.” The subject’s frank, frontal pose and the lively brushstrokes are characteristic of Luks, who was excited by the vitality of all aspects of contemporary urban life.

When this painting was shown in New York City in 1916, a reviewer commented: “In work of an uninspired artist you can speak of this or that subject as a ‘type,’ but Mr. Luks does not paint types—he paints the individual. And it is not a likeness, but an ideal, as seen in Innocence.” The subject’s frank, frontal pose and the lively brushstrokes are characteristic of Luks, who was excited by the vitality of all aspects of contemporary urban life.

Dewing painted this portrait of Elizabeth Platt Jencks at the artists’ colony in Cornish, New Hampshire, which he helped establish. When he began this portrait, he had just returned from traveling in Europe, where he toured galleries and shared a London studio with James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Whistler’s influence is evident in Dewing’s fluid brushstrokes and muted tonality. Jencks stands against a mottled gray ground in a firm and confident pose, beautiful and strong.

Dewing painted this portrait of Elizabeth Platt Jencks at the artists’ colony in Cornish, New Hampshire, which he helped establish. When he began this portrait, he had just returned from traveling in Europe, where he toured galleries and shared a London studio with James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Whistler’s influence is evident in Dewing’s fluid brushstrokes and muted tonality. Jencks stands against a mottled gray ground in a firm and confident pose, beautiful and strong.

Sargent’s glittering, life-sized society portrait of Caroline de Bassano, Marquise d’Espeuilles, was designed to register her position in society as a titled aristocrat and an arbiter of decorum and taste. However, in place of the imposing setting usually referenced in grand-manner portraiture, Sargent isolated the marquise in an undefined space, perhaps in order to subvert convention and render her beauty as timeless.

Sargent’s glittering, life-sized society portrait of Caroline de Bassano, Marquise d’Espeuilles, was designed to register her position in society as a titled aristocrat and an arbiter of decorum and taste. However, in place of the imposing setting usually referenced in grand-manner portraiture, Sargent isolated the marquise in an undefined space, perhaps in order to subvert convention and render her beauty as timeless.

A Day in July was painted during the final year of World War I, which dramatically disrupted life in Paris and the areas surrounding Giverny, the two places Ritman split his time between. Yet this work reveals none of the turmoil and devastation of those final months of war. Rather, Ritman’s patchwork of calm, harmonious colors and dappled light convey a sense of peace and repose.

A Day in July was painted during the final year of World War I, which dramatically disrupted life in Paris and the areas surrounding Giverny, the two places Ritman split his time between. Yet this work reveals none of the turmoil and devastation of those final months of war. Rather, Ritman’s patchwork of calm, harmonious colors and dappled light convey a sense of peace and repose.