100 Years of Illustration

William Glackens - 2

Here are more Glackens illustrations. They are all from Scribner's Monthly Magazine. Click on the images to enlarge them.

"Rabbi Eliezer's Christmas," by Abraham Cahan, ran in the December 1899 issue. The caption reads, "Why should you be afraid to tell us how much?" An immigrant from Lithuania, Cahan founded the Forward, a Yiddish language newspaper. He was also a well-respected novelist.

From the same story, "Fish, fish, living fish—buy fish, dear little housewives!"

This beautiful page appeared in the same issue of the magazine, illustrating a story by Arthur Colton, best known as a poet. These drawings were made after Glackens made a trip to Cuba in 1898 with his friend and fellow Ashcan School painter, George Luks.

These illustrations were on facing pages of a story by Sewell Ford, "Pluribus Jones and how he came into his own," from the June 1906 issue.

From "The Old Lamp," by the Venezuelan writer Catalina Paez, in the May 1909 issue. "Carmelina enthroned upon the stairs of her own vegetable cellar."

From the same story, "The joy of huddling bside Nonna on a potato sack."

Glackens knew his subjects well. The work appears to have been done in charcoal and a watercolor wash.

William Glackens and his illustrations of the theatre

I first heard about Bill Glackens from my mentor, Harold Irving Smith, who had studied with Robert Henri and George Luks years later. Harold was another generation, a World War I generation, whereas Glackens goes back to the days of Renoir and Honoré Daumier, a great influence on Glackens' early illustrations. The following links will tell you far more about Glackens than I can, with any authority. I like him for how he drew, how he composed his art, and how his characters looked, so true to life.
So, to read about William James Glackens, click on these links.

Glackens bio

another Glackens bio

This is a beauty, which appeared in Scribner's Monthly Magazine for February 1905, click on image to enlarge it. The article was entitled "The Lights and the Stars of Broadway," by John Corbin. It looks to me like a combination of gouache or opaque watercolor with pastel colors picking up highlights, but that's just a guess.

"In Town it's Different," for "The Play's the Thing," by Albert White Vorse in Scribner's Monthly Magazine for August 1899. Click on image to enlarge it. It could have been done in litho pencil with watercolor washes, transparent and opaque on top.

Here's an example of nicely these illustrations were placed within the text of the above article. FromScribner's Monthly Magazine for August 1899. Click on this image and the image below to enlarge them.

From "The Vaudeville Theatre," by Edwin Milton Royle, in Scribner's Monthly Magazine for October 1899.

These are all from the same article. Click on images to enlarge them.