American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

The present work is a study for William Glackens' The Soda Fountain (1935), now in the permanent collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The pair, nearly identical save for size, is a testament to Glackens' preoccupation with urban sites and spaces. Unlike earlier paintings that depict bustling social settings or outdoor scenes, The Soda Fountain–both preliminary study and final version–offers a more intimate and nuanced view.

The central grouping includes a young woman seated confidently at the counter, one gloved hand clutching her purse while the other dabs the corner of her mouth. A second figure, possibly a companion, sits with her left arm akimbo; her yellow hat offers a chromatic parallel to her counter-mate's dress and a nearby arrangement of lemons. Glackens bathes the pair in warm light which, in turn, accentuates their self-assured postures and fashionable, yet unpretentious attire. Delicate brushwork and a pastel-like palette reveal the artist's indebtedness to Renoir, to whom he was often compared. The soda clerk, who, in the final version was modeled after Glackens' son, Ira, fills a glass behind the counter.

It is within this subtle portrayal that Glackens captures the essence of his subject. The women are not defined by the company they keep, but rather by a kind of comfortable independence. Occupying the soda fountain on their own terms, they partake in a leisure activity traditionally associated with couples, but without the need for male accompaniment. (Even the soda clerk, the composition's lone male figure, is at some remove, both physically and psychologically.) While the present study (and PAFA's version) do not directly address social or political matters, together they reflect a changing social landscape–one that Glackens understood and appreciated all too well. Claiming public spaces and leisure activities for themselves, his female protagonists embody a newfound sense of self and individual agency, and attest to the evolving role of women in the first few decades of the 20th century.