With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Everett Shinn
Architecture/Design, Painting/Drawing, Theatre/Dance/Film, Children's Literature
1876 – 1953
Shinn was an American realist painter and member of the Ashcan School. He was also a member of ‘The Eight,’ a group of artists who rebelled against the traditional and conservative movements favored by the National Academy of Design and captured urban life at the beginning of the twentieth century. He lived in Roxbury in the 1940s.
- Biography/Description of Work
Having studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Shinn earned a living as a designer of lighting fixtures and working for a Philadelphia newspaper. There he was exposed to painters of urban life who would later become artists of the Ash Can School. He moved to New York where he worked as a newspaper illustrator and painted in his free time. In 1908, Shinn’s work appeared with that of The Eight, all painters of the grit, dirt and squalor of daily life in an urban setting. He often painted dancers and singers in the theater world, influenced by the work of Edgar Degas. Shinn was also a playwright, director and producer of plays which he put on in his New York studio. In addition to his paintings, largely pastels, he designed theater interiors, painted hotel murals, and was an art director for players in the new movie industry. While living in Roxbury, Shinn converted a barn into a studio, and wrote and illustrated several children’s books, including “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Night Before Christmas.”
- Sources view
- Uconn database, Rachel Carley, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_Shinn, http://www.phillipscollection.org/research/american_art/bios/shinn-bio.htm, http://www.butlerart.com/pc_book/pages/everett_shinn_1876.htm, http://whitney.org/Collection/EverettShinn, http://www.encore-editions.com/categories/everett-shinn-american-paintings-prints, http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?m=a&s=du&aid=1722, http://www.illustration-house.com/bios/shinn_bio.html, http://www.askart.com/askart/s/everett_shinn/everett_shinn.aspx, http://www.questroyalfineart.com/artist/everett-shinn, http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/everett-shinn-collection-9402 Everett Shinn Article - New York Times - 1932-12-10, Everett Shinn Article - New York Times - 1935-2-28, Everett Shinn Article - New York Times - 1959-2-21, Everett Shinn Article - New York Times - 1973-9-23, Everett Shinn Divorce Article - New York Times - 1932-12-17, Everett Shinn Obituary - New York Times - 1953-5-3, Everett Shinn Wedding Announcement http://www.mattatuckcollections.org/artist-maker/info/718?sort=3
- Associated Resource(s)
- n/a