Everett Shinn (1873–1953)

EVERETT SHINN (1873–1953)
Fifth Avenue, 1900
Pastel on paper, 20 x 16 in. 
Signed and dated (at lower left): E SHINN / [illeg.]; (at lower center): [very faintly] EVERETT SHINN / 1900

EXHIBITED: (possibly) Boussod, Valadon & Co., New York, 1900, Pastels by Everett Shinn // Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 1980, The Collection of Amanda K. Berls and Ruth A. Yerion // Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, 2000–01, Everett Shinn: The Spectacle of Life, pp. 117, 199 illus. in color // Avery Galleries, Philadelphia, 2011, Cradle and Crucible: The Enduring Legacy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, pp. 28–29 no. 8, 31 illus. in color

EX COLL.: [J. Bartfield, New York, until 1965]; to [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1965]; to R. F. Woolworth, New York, 1965; to [Coe Kerr Gallery, New York]; to Ms. Amanda K. Berls and Ms. Ruth A. Yerion, New York, until about 1985; to private collection, until 2009

Fifth Avenue is a pastel from 1900, created during a period during which Shinn achieved recognition as a master of pastel. Shinn prized the pastel medium for its flash and spontaneity, which allowed him to quickly render a scene or subject in bold, quick strokes and a great sense of dashing energy. Indeed, pastel occupies a crucial place in Shinn’s artistic practice, and Shinn is rightly viewed as one of the greatest pastel painters of the 20th century.