Provenance
On consignment from the artist to (Kraushaar Galleries, New York), by 1937; purchased April 1937 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
Accession Number
2014.79.47
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 60.6 × 81.6 cm (23 7/8 × 32 1/8 in.) | framed: 75.6 × 95.3 × 7 cm (29 3/4 × 37 1/2 × 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund)
Tags
Painting Early Modern (1901–1950) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
William James Glackens (1870-1938) was an American painter known for his brightly colored scenes of urban leisure that make him one of the leading members of the Ash Can School. Luxembourg Gardens from 1906 depicts the famous Parisian park in the brightly colored, Impressionist-influenced manner that distinguishes Glackens's Parisian scenes from the darker urban subjects of his Ash Can colleagues. The 1906 date places this in Glackens's Parisian period, when he was producing the brightly colored park scenes that show the influence of Renoir on his work, and the Luxembourg Gardens subject allows him to exercise his talent for depicting crowds in leisure.
Cultural Impact
Luxembourg Gardens is important in Glackens's oeuvre because it demonstrates the brightly colored, Impressionist-influenced manner that distinguishes his Parisian scenes from the darker urban subjects of his Ash Can colleagues. The 1906 painting shows the influence of Renoir on Glackens's treatment of crowds in leisure, creating a type of American painting that is simultaneously Impressionist in color and Ash Can in subject.
Why It Matters
Luxembourg Gardens is Glackens's Impressionist Ash Can: the Parisian park rendered in the brightly colored, Impressionist-influenced manner that distinguishes his Parisian scenes from the darker urban subjects of his Ash Can colleagues. The 1906 painting shows Renoir's influence combined with Ash Can subject matter.
