The William J. Glackens Collection and Research Center at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale houses more than 1,900 objects that tell the story of William J. Glackens, a pivotal figure in the development of twentieth century American art. This extensive collection was entrusted to the Museum in 1990 by the Sansom Foundation, created by Ira Glackens to preserve and promote his father’s legacy. Thanks to the Foundation’s support, the Museum’s stewardship is enriched by ongoing research, deepening our understanding of the collection’s vital importance.

In 2013, the museum presented the first comprehensive survey of Glackens, curated by independent writer and art historian Avis Berman, which was augmented by a major monograph. Subsequent exhibitions organized by the museum focused on such subjects as Glackens’ representation of the new liberated woman of the early 1900s, seascapes, and the talented Glackens family, among others. A Backward Glance, the first full-scale highlights exhibition in a decade, builds on the research these focused exhibitions yielded. It also features works generously donated in recent years to the museum from the Sansom Foundation, including  the majestic painting, Seated Actress with Mirror (c.1903).

William J. Glackens (b. 1870, Philadelphia, PA; d. 1938, Westport, CT) was a founding member of the turn-of-the-century artists’ group  known as The Ashcan School, together with Robert Henri (1865–1929), Everett Shinn (1876–1953), John Sloan (1871–1951), and others. This exhibition presents many of Glackens’ most celebrated works alongside those he collected by his Ashcan peers, as well as paintings by his wife, watercolorist Edith Dimock Glackens, and their children, Ira and Lenna. Masterworks such as Cape Cod Pier (1908) and Artist’s Daughter in Chinese Costume (1918) are further enriched by displays of ephemera, including plein-air sketches, archival photographs, and printed materials, altogether offering a layered and intimate portrait of the artist’s life and creative process.