William James Glackens

For much of his early career, William Glackens worked as an illustrator and artist-reporter in Philadelphia; he also served as a field reporter during the Spanish-American War. His paintings from this period are generally social realist subjects in a dark palette.

He later moved to New York to join his artist friends and became part of the group called the American Eight or Ashcan School, artists who championed painting everyday life.

Around 1906, Glackens encountered the work of Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) and began to paint in an impressionist style, brightening his palette and using loose, broken brushstrokes, though retaining the outlines of his figures.