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Lot Essay
William Glackens throughout his career was devoted to the exploration of the still life. The artist became particuly intrigued with this genre later in his career which produced some of his most beautiful works comprised of fruit or flowers. The present work, Still Life with Vase of Flowers is a quintessential example of Glackens's forray into celebrating the glory of color and finesse of form and composition.
Glackens most likely began investigating still lifes around 1915-1916. In the ensuing decades the still life became a prominent subject in his painting. (W. Gerdts, William Glackens, New York, 1996, p. 149) William Gerdts states: "Glackens's still lifes are generally very simple contructions of ordinary fruit-apples, grapes, and the like--and simple garden or field flowers, as well as more expensive bouquets or exotic blooms. The raw materials were purchased in the market or came from the gardens that William and Edith attended whenever they were installed in country homes. They are displayed in attractive but never terribly elaborate ceramic ware or occasionally in a basket or a glass vase. Sometimes a patterned hanging or curtain serves as a background, and the arrangements are usually set on a piece of furniture covered by a cloth...The flowers and fruits were generally arranged not by the artist himself but by Edith, for decoration in their home. Such casualness coincided with the recollections of Mrs. George Bellows that Glackens believed that flowers placed in a vase essentially arranged themselves." (V. J. de Gregoria, "The Life and Art of William J. Glackens," Ph D. diss., Ohio State University, 1955, p. 231 as quoted in William Glackens, p. 149)
Glackens, in his exhibitions throughout the 1920s and 30s, included a great number of still lives. They were well received by the public, fellow artists and critics. In January 1937, Kraushaar Galleries devoted an entire room to Glackens's floral paintings which received the following review: "There is something disarming in the simplicity of the arrangements, just little handfuls of flowers casually placed in vases. But casualness is, of course, camouflage, for there is the utmost subtlety in the patterns of color, in the relations of form and contour. ... And what joy in pure painting these flower pieces afford! What lusciousness of pigment, what purity of color and astounding candor of statement. Flowers are, after all, satisfying sitters, requiring no flattery or emphasis of personal traits; submitting to arbitrary arrangments, surrending their fragile beauty to the exigencies of deocrative design and triumphing over it and with it." (M. Bruening, "Glackens and Schnakenberg," American Magazine of Art 30, February 1937, p. 117 as quoted in William Glackens, p. 153)
Still Life with Vase of Flowers poignantly reflects Glackens's love of bold color, delicate composition and energetic patterning. Comprised of a playful assortment of flowers placed within a ceramic pitcher on top of a casually placed kerchief and next to a plump orange, Glackens creates a smyphony of color that is further underscored by bravado brushwork and a keen sense of composition. Still Life with Vase of Flowers illustrates Glackens's ingenious ability to transform gentle, domestic vignettes into powerful statements of vibrant color and impressive form.
Glackens most likely began investigating still lifes around 1915-1916. In the ensuing decades the still life became a prominent subject in his painting. (W. Gerdts, William Glackens, New York, 1996, p. 149) William Gerdts states: "Glackens's still lifes are generally very simple contructions of ordinary fruit-apples, grapes, and the like--and simple garden or field flowers, as well as more expensive bouquets or exotic blooms. The raw materials were purchased in the market or came from the gardens that William and Edith attended whenever they were installed in country homes. They are displayed in attractive but never terribly elaborate ceramic ware or occasionally in a basket or a glass vase. Sometimes a patterned hanging or curtain serves as a background, and the arrangements are usually set on a piece of furniture covered by a cloth...The flowers and fruits were generally arranged not by the artist himself but by Edith, for decoration in their home. Such casualness coincided with the recollections of Mrs. George Bellows that Glackens believed that flowers placed in a vase essentially arranged themselves." (V. J. de Gregoria, "The Life and Art of William J. Glackens," Ph D. diss., Ohio State University, 1955, p. 231 as quoted in William Glackens, p. 149)
Glackens, in his exhibitions throughout the 1920s and 30s, included a great number of still lives. They were well received by the public, fellow artists and critics. In January 1937, Kraushaar Galleries devoted an entire room to Glackens's floral paintings which received the following review: "There is something disarming in the simplicity of the arrangements, just little handfuls of flowers casually placed in vases. But casualness is, of course, camouflage, for there is the utmost subtlety in the patterns of color, in the relations of form and contour. ... And what joy in pure painting these flower pieces afford! What lusciousness of pigment, what purity of color and astounding candor of statement. Flowers are, after all, satisfying sitters, requiring no flattery or emphasis of personal traits; submitting to arbitrary arrangments, surrending their fragile beauty to the exigencies of deocrative design and triumphing over it and with it." (M. Bruening, "Glackens and Schnakenberg," American Magazine of Art 30, February 1937, p. 117 as quoted in William Glackens, p. 153)
Still Life with Vase of Flowers poignantly reflects Glackens's love of bold color, delicate composition and energetic patterning. Comprised of a playful assortment of flowers placed within a ceramic pitcher on top of a casually placed kerchief and next to a plump orange, Glackens creates a smyphony of color that is further underscored by bravado brushwork and a keen sense of composition. Still Life with Vase of Flowers illustrates Glackens's ingenious ability to transform gentle, domestic vignettes into powerful statements of vibrant color and impressive form.