By The Times/Ledger
“William Glackens: An Impressionist's Journey” opened Tuesday at the Queens Museum of Art and features the first opportunity in many decades to view little-known works by an artist who has been described as a neglected American master.
The exhibition at the New York City Building in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is overseen by QMA Curator William Valerio and Jorge Santis of the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Glackens, a member of the Ash Can School, so-called because the artists depicted the more unseemly sights of New York City and environs, was a native Philadelphian and son of a railroad worker, who became a magazine illustrator at 21. He subsequently enrolled in classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and spent three years sketching and painting in Paris.
He and seven other artists were featured in a controversial 1908 exhibition at the MacBeth Gallery in New York, which concentrated on the city's underbelly rather than its gentility and they were henceforth referred to as “The Eight.”
Featured in “Impressionist's Journey” are views of turn-of-the-century New York and Glackens' later still lifes, nudes and figurative landscapes.
The exhibition will be on view until April 30 and features notebooks and sketches not previously shown. Most of the work is drawn from the Glackens family bequest to the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale.
In celebration of Black History Month, the Seventh Principle Performance Company will present African dance and percussion at the museum on Saturday at 2 p.m. Highly regarded for their exuberant and skillful dances and music, the Seventh Principle connects the past to the present through African traditions, history and a creative and innovative fusion of American culture.
The company has received praise for its performances at such diverse venues as the Newark Museum, the 1998 Goodwill Games and Jacob's Pillow.
Founded in 1992 by Candace Hundley, the company's name is derived from “Imani,” the seventh principle of the black cultural holiday Kwanzaa. The qualities of Imani are hope, courage, perseverance and a belief in self and others.
Saturday's family-oriented performance marks the company's first appearance at the Queens Museum of Art. Presented free with museum admission, it will include narrative and demonstration explaining the various dance movements and musical sounds.
Admission to the Queens Museum of Art is by a suggested contribution of $4 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. For further information, call 592-9700, ext. 222. The museum's hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
This program is presented as part of the Queens Museum of Art's Community Affairs Initiative which is supported by the Booth Ferris Foundation, The Chase Manhattan Bank, New York Community Trust, Natural Heritage Trust/New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and state Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale).
