Lisa N. Peters
Focus on the Ashcan School. . . . hmm
We currently have an online Ashcan School show on our website, so the question came up of what exactly is the Ashcan School????
Focus on the Ashcan School. . . . hmm
We currently have an online Ashcan School show on our website, so the question came up of what exactly is the Ashcan School????
I will try to answer this question as succinctly as possible in a three-part post series.
This so-called “school” refers to a group of artists who painted gritty, vital views of many strata of New York City life in the early twentieth century.
William Glackens
The Terrace, 1896-97
Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in. Yet there’s a problem: the Ashcan School was not only never literally a “school,” but it also never consisted of an organized group of artists. Because of this, to my mind, it seems more reasonable to use the term “Ashcan School” to refer to works that fit certain criteria associated with this school rather than to try to assign this label to certain artists.
Clearly, though, there were several painters who can be viewed as the leading Ashcan Schoolers. These—most notably Robert Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, and George Luks—all belonged to the group called the Eight, which broke off in 1907 from the National Academy of Design in protest against the way that the organizers of its exhibitions favored the work of academic painters over the more original works by artists of a more progressive bent. “The academy is hopelessly against what is real and vital in American art,” said Henri.
This so-called “school” refers to a group of artists who painted gritty, vital views of many strata of New York City life in the early twentieth century.
William Glackens
The Terrace, 1896-97
Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in. Yet there’s a problem: the Ashcan School was not only never literally a “school,” but it also never consisted of an organized group of artists. Because of this, to my mind, it seems more reasonable to use the term “Ashcan School” to refer to works that fit certain criteria associated with this school rather than to try to assign this label to certain artists.
Clearly, though, there were several painters who can be viewed as the leading Ashcan Schoolers. These—most notably Robert Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, and George Luks—all belonged to the group called the Eight, which broke off in 1907 from the National Academy of Design in protest against the way that the organizers of its exhibitions favored the work of academic painters over the more original works by artists of a more progressive bent. “The academy is hopelessly against what is real and vital in American art,” said Henri.
However, even in their statements for what turned out to be their groundbreaking 1908 exhibition at the Macbeth Galleries in New York, the group proclaimed: “We’ve come together because we’re so unlike.” Their works probably look more consistent to us today than they did to the artists then, but few of the paintings by group members Arthur B. Davies or Maurice Prendergast are in keeping with what we would deem to be the Ashcan School idiom, and Ernest Lawson’s works are often closer to those his Impressionist-inspired predecessors (such as his teacher John Twachtman) than to darker manner associated with the Ashcan School.
Some other artists kept more consistently to the Ashcan mode, perhaps even more so than the members of the Eight, such as George Bellows and Jerome Myers, while other artists of the time only occasionally crossed into Ashcan territory, depending on what they were painting and where they were in their careers. To make things even more confusing, many members of the Eight took off in highly individualistic directions later in their careers, creating works that are far outside of an Ashcan style let alone an Ashcan point of view.
In Part II, I will discuss the origins and controversy of the term.
Some other artists kept more consistently to the Ashcan mode, perhaps even more so than the members of the Eight, such as George Bellows and Jerome Myers, while other artists of the time only occasionally crossed into Ashcan territory, depending on what they were painting and where they were in their careers. To make things even more confusing, many members of the Eight took off in highly individualistic directions later in their careers, creating works that are far outside of an Ashcan style let alone an Ashcan point of view.
In Part II, I will discuss the origins and controversy of the term.
George B. Luks (1867-1933)
The Guitar (a portrait of the artist's brother with his son), 1908
Oil on canvas, 28-1/4 x 29 inches
The Guitar (a portrait of the artist's brother with his son), 1908
Oil on canvas, 28-1/4 x 29 inches
Robert Henri (1865 - 1929)
Sea and Land (Monhegan Island, Maine), ca. 1909Oil on panel, 3 3/4 x 6 inches
George Bellows (1882-1925)
Head of Boy (Gray Boy), ca. 1905
Oil on canvas, 26-1/4 x 20-1/2 inches
Head of Boy (Gray Boy), ca. 1905
Oil on canvas, 26-1/4 x 20-1/2 inches
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