William J. Glackens

PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS

As part of the recent inclusion of 130 historic, modern and contemporary works to its permanent collection of American art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia has added a cache of artwork by William J. Glackens.“the museum is thrilled with these new additions to the permanent collection, which illustrate our relationships with both patrons and artists,” says Brooke Davis Anderson, Edna S.tuttleman Director of the museum.

One of the Glackens pieces is a pastel and charcoal work in progress for his painting The Soda Fountain, which comes from

an important sketchbook of the artist’s work that was donated to PAFA. The study reveals the beginnings of a more fully realized work, with subjects sitting at a soda parlor blocked into the foreground and the application of the first few layers of value.

“I’m delighted to add this sketchbook by Glackens for his important painting in our collection, The Soda Fountain,” says Anna O. Marley, curator of historical American art at PAFA. “It reveals the artist’s working process in a way that will be fascinating for both the public and our students.”

William J. Glackens (1870-1938), page featuring a study for The Soda Fountain from Sketchbook. Pastel and charcoal on paper, 13½ x 10½ in. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA. Donated by Susan Corn Conway in honor of William Glackens (“WG”) and his son Ira, who preserved his father’s archive and collection.