Biography
Everett Shinn depicted the grit and glamour of city life, revealing the faceless despair of the unemployment line and the vibrant spectacle of the theatre. Born in New Jersey, Shinn trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and began working as an illustrator for “Harper’s,” “Vanity Fair,” and “Life.” At the beginning of the twentieth century, he gained prominence as a member of the Ashcan School, or The Eight, a tightly-knit group of artists that included Robert Henri, George Luks, and Ernest Lawson. Connected by their interest in Social Realism and urban subjects, The Eight engineered a radical departure from academic convention. Widely exhibited during his lifetime, Shinn’s work is now featured in the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
