Ashcan School

Broad brushstrokes, dark tones and the energy of urban life connect the painters later called the Ashcan School. Robert Henri and his circle found subjects in streets, theaters, restaurants and the people around them; several had worked as newspaper illustrators. They drew on older painters as well as recent Realism. Look at how gesture and loosely handled paint make a scene immediate, while remembering that this was a network of individual artists rather than a formal school. Connected places: Philadelphia · New York.

• At Mouquin'sWilliam James Glackens, 1905
• Young Woman in BlackRobert Henri, 1902
• HerselfRobert Henri, 1913
• HimselfRobert Henri, 1913