William Glackens, born Philadelphia, PA - He piles himself on Gothecore's back then he crooks his right arm about - 1903 - T-Shirt

An ink and wash drawing of a figure struggling in churning water, one arm hooked around a second head that breaks the surface, with reaching hands rising from the waves.

Visual Elements & Composition

The drawing is built in brown ink on sepia paper, with dark brown and ink black dominating the top of the sheet. The figures are crowded into a small area, pale hands and a forearm rising from the dark water at the left, while a dark hat floats at the lower right. The water is made of sweeping, overlapping strokes and concentric ripples, and bare paper shows through in the surface, giving the scene its light and its sense of motion. The signature sits in the lower right corner.

Meaning & Symbolism

The drawing shows a moment of peril and physical effort, one figure holding another above the water while other arms reach out in a frantic gesture. William Glackens (1870-1938), born in Philadelphia, worked as a newspaper and magazine illustrator before becoming a painter of the Ashcan School and a member of The Eight. In 1903 his illustration work was still central to his output, and dramatic episodes like this one were a staple of the magazine illustrations of the period, rendered in strong contrasts of light and dark.

Crafted for the Wearer

Ink and wash works are read at close range, and the tension of this scene lives in its dark masses and open paper. On a tee, the drawing sits across the chest, where the crowded figures and the rippling water hold the eye at arm's length and invite a closer look. The dark top of the sheet becomes the strongest part of the print, and the bare paper in the surface carries the light through the shirt.