PREMIER PRE HOLIDAY AUCTION
Lot 285:
Description
Signed Everett Shinn, ‘Olympic Theatre Study’. Ashcan School. Watercolor & Pencil on Paper
Everett Shinn (American, 1876-1953). ‘Olympic Theatre Study’. Watercolor painting & pencil, on paper depicting a female performer and audience at the olympic theater in new york city. Signed and titled lower left.
An iconic american ashcan scene, depicted from the point of view of the audience. A view of life in new york city, with the composition and attitude that made him famous. Framed in a period art nouveau gilded frame with elegant silk mat.
Shinn started as a newspaper illustrator in philadelphia, demonstrating a rare facility for depicting animated movement. There he worked with William J. Glackens, George Luks and John Sloan, who became core-members of the ashcan school, led by Robert Henri. Shinn is best known for scenes of disaster or street violence, as well as theatrical subjects, regarding the theatre as a place of satisfying illusion. Shinn became friendly with a number of major theater professionals in new york, including playwright Clyde Fitch, actress Julia Marlowe, and producer David Belasco. They were able to introduce him to a social elite in Manhattan which included interior designer Elsie de Wolfe and architect Stanford White. As a result, he created a number of murals for houses built by Stanford White and for many houses and apartments decorated by Elsie de Wolfe. He was the only ashcan artist who preferred to work in pastels. Shinn did not exhibit in the famous 1913 armory show of modern art and, in fact, became over the years a confirmed anti-modernist, expressing nothing but disdain for Picasso and Matisse. He was reportedly a model for the protagonist of Theodore Dreiser’s novel, ‘The ‘Genius’.
Sheet – 4 1/2" high x 7" wide. Frame – size 11 1/2" x 13 1/2"
Condition: Condition is very good. The work is mounted on paper board. Framed with UV plexi. Moulding is also very good.
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