The Shoppers

William J. Glackens, American (1870-1938)
This is a large square oil on canvas painting. It is an oil on canvas "genre" painting of middle-class New York life: it illustrates well-dressed women shopping for clothes. There are five women in the picture plane. The central woman, in a dark brown fur coat, with feathers in her hat, comes forward to the viewer with her left shoulder first, her face in profile. The woman in the foreground, in front of her, is seated with her back to the viewer. Two women are on either side of the furred woman and the last woman is nearly eclipsed in the background. The setting is a shop; behind the counter that the women face are drawers on the upper left and rolls of fabric on the right. The hanging white garment frames the central furred woman. The three principal figures are portraits: Edith Glackens is in the center, her companion at right is Mrs. Florence Shinn, and the woman seated at the left with her back to the viewer is Lillian E. Travis, known for her auburn hair.

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