Provenance
The artist; purchased by Arthur F. Egner, South Orange, New Jersey, by 1934;[1] (his estate sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 4 May 1945, no. 116). (Knoedler and Co., New York), by 1947;[2] purchased 16 May 1950 by NGA.
[1] The painting was lent by Enger to the 1934 exhibition _The Work of George Benjamin Luks_ at the Newark Museum.
[2] The painting was lent by Knoedler to the 1947 exhibition _Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition: Paintings by American Artists 1896-1930_ at the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts.
Accession Number
1950.5.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 101.9 x 151.5 cm (40 1/8 x 59 5/8 in.) | framed: 119.1 x 169.6 x 7 cm (46 7/8 x 66 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of the Avalon Foundation
Tags
Painting Early Modern (1901–1950) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
George Luks (1867-1933) was an American painter and a leading member of the Ashcan School, known for the bold, energetic paintings of urban life that make him one of the most important painters of the early 20th-century American realist tradition. The Bersaglieri from 1918 depicts Italian soldiers (bersaglieri are elite Italian light infantry) in the bold, energetic manner that distinguishes Luks's best work. The 1918 date places this during World War I, and the subject of Italian soldiers reflects the international dimension of the war that was then being fought.
Cultural Impact
The Bersaglieri is important in the context of American painting during World War I because it demonstrates the bold, energetic manner that Luks brought to the subject of war as a leading member of the Ashcan School. Luks's bold, energetic approach—combining the Ashcan School's commitment to depicting everyday reality with the subject of soldiers at war—shows how the Ashcan School's realist tradition could be applied to the international dimension of World War I, and the 1918 painting shows this application at its most characteristic.
Why It Matters
The Bersaglieri is Luks's bold war painting: Italian elite infantry rendered in the energetic manner of a leading member of the Ashcan School. The 1918 painting shows the Ashcan School's realist tradition applied to the subject of World War I soldiers, combining energetic brushwork with the international dimension of the war.
