Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2014.

Images(2)

4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

The Shoppers

Artist William James Glackens (American, 1870-1938)

Date1907-08

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 69 5/8 x 69 7/8 x 3 in. (176.8 x 177.5 x 7.6 cm)

ClassificationsAmerican art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.651

Terms

Women
Shopping
Black
Brown
Violet
Yellow
Mauve
White
New York

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is a large square oil on canvas painting. It is an oil on canvas "genre" painting of middle-class New York life: it illustrates well-dressed women shopping for clothes. There are five women in the picture plane. The central woman, in a dark brown fur coat, with feathers in her hat, comes forward to the viewer with her left shoulder first, her face in profile. The woman in the foreground, in front of her, is seated with her back to the viewer. Two women are on either side of the furred woman and the last woman is nearly eclipsed in the background. The setting is a shop; behind the counter that the women face are drawers on the upper left and rolls of fabric on the right. The hanging white garment frames the central furred woman. The three principal figures are portraits: Edith Glackens is in the center, her companion at right is Mrs. Florence Shinn, and the woman seated at the left with her back to the viewer is Lillian E. Travis, known for her auburn hair.

Label TextWilliam James Glackens American, 1870–1938 The Shoppers, 1907–08 Oil on canvas In dark brown furs, Edith Glackens leads her friends through a Manhattan department store. As painted by her husband William Glackens, these middle-class shoppers are connoisseurs and tastemakers, choosing distinctive hats, coats, jewelry, handbags, and lingerie. City life and consumer culture fascinated Impressionists and Glackens’ younger generation of New York realist painters. After he was excluded from the National Academy of Design’s annual exhibition, Glackens helped organize an independent group of like-minded colleagues called the Eight. Their shows invited the public, like these shoppers, to carefully examine a wide range of artistic styles and subjects. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.651