Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Estate of the artist
Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1995
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
William Glackens
(American, 1870–1938)
Bal Bullier
c. 1895
Oil on canvas
Image: 23 13/16 x 32 in. (60.5 x 81.3 cm)
Frame: 32 5/8 x 41 in. (82.9 x 104.1 cm)
Frame: 32 5/8 x 41 in. (82.9 x 104.1 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.59
SignedLower right: W. Glackens
InterpretationIn Bal Bullier, a somewhat mismatched couple takes to the floor in a Parisian dance hall as curious onlookers clear a space before them in anticipation. The woman, likely a so-called grisette—a young working woman out for pleasure—lifts her skirt flirtatiously to reveal the ruffled edge of her white petticoat as she glances toward her mustached partner, stiff in his formal suit and top hat. William Glackens painted this image rapidly with broad strokes as he captured the dense crush of the dancehall scene, with its mixture of social types and classes. The somber colors, suggesting the muting effect of the interior's dim gas lighting, throw into almost grotesque relief the dramatic touches of bright red, white, and yellow in faces, hats, shirtfronts, and other details. By crowding the figures up against the top edge of his composition, the artist evokes the stifling congestion of the Bal Bullier at the height of the evening's frenzied pleasure.
Glackens went to Paris in 1895 in the company of his friend and mentor, American realist painter Robert Henri. Glackens had left the academic program of study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in his native Philadelphia and declined to take up further studies in the conservative art schools of Paris to which many of his American contemporaries were flocking. Hewing to Henri's revolutionary doctrine of painting real life as one finds it, Glackens devoted his art to Parisian street scenes and images of everyday life. "The Paris cafés are a never ending source of inspiration to me," he wrote home to a friend.1 Bal Bullier is one of his two paintings showing the scene at the celebrated dancehall of that name; it was one of the highlights of Montmartre, a Parisian quarter famous for its lively nightlife, relaxed moral atmosphere, and concentration of resident artists. Indeed, the striking images of the entertainment industry made by one of the quarter's most prominent artists, Frenchman Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), may have influenced the tipped-up perspective and slightly grotesque characterizations in Glackens's painting.
Bal Bullier demonstrates Glackens's ability to quickly grasp and enunciate not only a tangible setting but the equally compelling nuances of interaction among people representing a range of social classes. In this he drew heavily on his experience as a newspaper artist-reporter and magazine illustrator, the work with which he had successfully begun his artistic career and on which he would rely financially until 1919. Indeed, Bal Bullier, one of his earliest recorded oil paintings, was reproduced in an American magazine article in which Glackens was hailed as one of the "new leaders" in American illustration. The artist was determined to establish himself as a painter, however. In Paris, his work was inspired not only by Henri but by the realism and flattened forms of French painter Édouard Manet (1832–1883). While emulating Manet's almost monochromatic color range, dramatic darks and lights, and flattening treatment of the painting surface, Glackens infused his lively depiction of the dancehall with his characteristic humorous insight and vivid dash. Bal Bullier anticipates the artist's affiliation with the progressive New York painters known derisively as the Ashcan school for their artistic embrace of the wide-ranging urban social scene and corresponding deliberately crude style of painting.
1. William Glackens quoted in William Glackens: The Formative Years (New York: Kraushaar Galleries, 1991): 2.
Glackens went to Paris in 1895 in the company of his friend and mentor, American realist painter Robert Henri. Glackens had left the academic program of study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in his native Philadelphia and declined to take up further studies in the conservative art schools of Paris to which many of his American contemporaries were flocking. Hewing to Henri's revolutionary doctrine of painting real life as one finds it, Glackens devoted his art to Parisian street scenes and images of everyday life. "The Paris cafés are a never ending source of inspiration to me," he wrote home to a friend.1 Bal Bullier is one of his two paintings showing the scene at the celebrated dancehall of that name; it was one of the highlights of Montmartre, a Parisian quarter famous for its lively nightlife, relaxed moral atmosphere, and concentration of resident artists. Indeed, the striking images of the entertainment industry made by one of the quarter's most prominent artists, Frenchman Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), may have influenced the tipped-up perspective and slightly grotesque characterizations in Glackens's painting.
Bal Bullier demonstrates Glackens's ability to quickly grasp and enunciate not only a tangible setting but the equally compelling nuances of interaction among people representing a range of social classes. In this he drew heavily on his experience as a newspaper artist-reporter and magazine illustrator, the work with which he had successfully begun his artistic career and on which he would rely financially until 1919. Indeed, Bal Bullier, one of his earliest recorded oil paintings, was reproduced in an American magazine article in which Glackens was hailed as one of the "new leaders" in American illustration. The artist was determined to establish himself as a painter, however. In Paris, his work was inspired not only by Henri but by the realism and flattened forms of French painter Édouard Manet (1832–1883). While emulating Manet's almost monochromatic color range, dramatic darks and lights, and flattening treatment of the painting surface, Glackens infused his lively depiction of the dancehall with his characteristic humorous insight and vivid dash. Bal Bullier anticipates the artist's affiliation with the progressive New York painters known derisively as the Ashcan school for their artistic embrace of the wide-ranging urban social scene and corresponding deliberately crude style of painting.
1. William Glackens quoted in William Glackens: The Formative Years (New York: Kraushaar Galleries, 1991): 2.
Estate of the artist
Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1995
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition History
William Glackens Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, December 14, 1938–January 15, 1939, no. 9.
Memorial Exhibition of Works by William J. Glackens, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 1–March 15, 1939, no. 93.
The Fourth Annual Memorial Exhibition of the Paintings of William Glackens, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, November 6–December 6, 1942, no. 20.
William Glackens Retrospective Exhibition, Carpenter Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 15–June 30, 1960, no. 3.
Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]
American Artists and the French Experience, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12-August 27, 1997.
American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.
Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]
Paris-New York, aller-retour. Une Modernité américaine en formation, 1875–1940. Oeuvres des collections de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et des Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (Paris-New York, Roundtrip. American Modernism in the Making, 1875–1940. Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, September 15–November 30, 2002. [exh. cat.]
Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 31, 2005. [exh. brochure]
Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 29, 2006. [exh. brochure]
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2008.
The Eight and American Modernisms, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (organizers). Venues: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, March 6–May 24, 2009; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 6–August 23, 2009. [exh. cat.]
William Glackens, Nova Southeastern University’s Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (organizer). Venues: Nova Southeastern University’s Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Florida February 23–June 1, 2014; Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York, July 27–October 13, 2014; Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 8, 2014– February 2, 2015.
Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art , Bowdoin College Museum of Art, New Brunswick, Maine (organizer). Venue: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, New Brunswick, Maine, June 27–October 18, 2015. [exh. cat.]
Memorial Exhibition of Works by William J. Glackens, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 1–March 15, 1939, no. 93.
The Fourth Annual Memorial Exhibition of the Paintings of William Glackens, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, November 6–December 6, 1942, no. 20.
William Glackens Retrospective Exhibition, Carpenter Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 15–June 30, 1960, no. 3.
Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]
American Artists and the French Experience, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12-August 27, 1997.
American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.
Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]
Paris-New York, aller-retour. Une Modernité américaine en formation, 1875–1940. Oeuvres des collections de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et des Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (Paris-New York, Roundtrip. American Modernism in the Making, 1875–1940. Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, September 15–November 30, 2002. [exh. cat.]
Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 31, 2005. [exh. brochure]
Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 29, 2006. [exh. brochure]
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2008.
The Eight and American Modernisms, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (organizers). Venues: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, March 6–May 24, 2009; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 6–August 23, 2009. [exh. cat.]
William Glackens, Nova Southeastern University’s Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (organizer). Venues: Nova Southeastern University’s Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Florida February 23–June 1, 2014; Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York, July 27–October 13, 2014; Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 8, 2014– February 2, 2015.
Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art , Bowdoin College Museum of Art, New Brunswick, Maine (organizer). Venue: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, New Brunswick, Maine, June 27–October 18, 2015. [exh. cat.]
Armstrong, Regina. "The New Leaders in American Illustration IV, The Typists: McCarter Yohn, Glackens, Shinn and Luks." The Bookman 11 (May 1900): 244–51. Ill. p. 251.
William Glackens Memorial Exhibition. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1938. Text p. 11, no. 9 (checklist).
O'Connor, John, Jr. "The Glackens Exhibition." The Carnegie Magazine 12, no. 1 (April 1938): 273-278. Text p. 277.
List made in 1943 of works in estate of William J. Glackens left to Mrs. William J. Glackens, William Glackens File, Whitney Museum of American Art Papers, Archives of American Art, microfilm roll no. N658, frame 605, no. 182.
De Gregorio, Vincent John. The Life and Art of William J. Glackens. PhD dissertation, Ohio State University, 1955. Text p. 117; p. 474, no. 6 (as Bal Bullier (No. 1)).
Gerdts, William H. William Glackens. New York: Abbeville Press, 1996. Text p. 17; ill. p. 17, pl. 9 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. and Margaretta M. Lovell. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d’Art Américain, Giverny) Chicago: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 24 (checklist).
The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives 1820–1920. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France April 1-November 30, 2001). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2001. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2001. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Griffith, Bronwyn and Lee A. Vedder. Paris-New York, aller-retour (New York-Paris Round Trip). (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 18, 87, 106 (checklist); ill. p. 20, fig. 4 (color).
Weber, Bruce. American Paintings X. New York, NY: Berry-Hill Galleries, 2002. Text p. 52.
Kennedy, Elizabeth et al. The Eight and American Modernisms. (exh. cat., New Britain Museum of American Art, Milwaukee Art Museum and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2009. Text pp. 44, 175 (checklist); ill. p. 51 (color).
Udall, Sharyn Rohlfsen. Dance and American Art: A Long Embrace. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2012. Text, p. 123; ill. fig. 74, pg. 123 (color).
Berman, Avis, ed. William Glackens, (exh. cat. Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Parrish Art Museum, and Barnes Foundation). New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications, Inc. in association with the Barnes Foundation, 2014. Text pp. 35, 198, 199, 275 (checklist); ill. p. 39, pl. 7 (color).
Homann, Joachim. Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art, 1860–1960. (exh. cat. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine) New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel and Brunswick, Maine: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 2015. Text p. 34; ill. p. 90, pl. 40 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 186, 187; ill. p. 187, detail pp. 188-189 (color).
William J. Glackens and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Affinities and Distinctions. (exh. cat. NSU Art Museum) Milan: Skira, 2018. Text p. 44; ill. p. 45 (color).
William Glackens Memorial Exhibition. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1938. Text p. 11, no. 9 (checklist).
O'Connor, John, Jr. "The Glackens Exhibition." The Carnegie Magazine 12, no. 1 (April 1938): 273-278. Text p. 277.
List made in 1943 of works in estate of William J. Glackens left to Mrs. William J. Glackens, William Glackens File, Whitney Museum of American Art Papers, Archives of American Art, microfilm roll no. N658, frame 605, no. 182.
De Gregorio, Vincent John. The Life and Art of William J. Glackens. PhD dissertation, Ohio State University, 1955. Text p. 117; p. 474, no. 6 (as Bal Bullier (No. 1)).
Gerdts, William H. William Glackens. New York: Abbeville Press, 1996. Text p. 17; ill. p. 17, pl. 9 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. and Margaretta M. Lovell. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d’Art Américain, Giverny) Chicago: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 24 (checklist).
The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives 1820–1920. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France April 1-November 30, 2001). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2001. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Giverny, France: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, 2001. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Griffith, Bronwyn and Lee A. Vedder. Paris-New York, aller-retour (New York-Paris Round Trip). (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 18, 87, 106 (checklist); ill. p. 20, fig. 4 (color).
Weber, Bruce. American Paintings X. New York, NY: Berry-Hill Galleries, 2002. Text p. 52.
Kennedy, Elizabeth et al. The Eight and American Modernisms. (exh. cat., New Britain Museum of American Art, Milwaukee Art Museum and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2009. Text pp. 44, 175 (checklist); ill. p. 51 (color).
Udall, Sharyn Rohlfsen. Dance and American Art: A Long Embrace. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2012. Text, p. 123; ill. fig. 74, pg. 123 (color).
Berman, Avis, ed. William Glackens, (exh. cat. Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Parrish Art Museum, and Barnes Foundation). New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications, Inc. in association with the Barnes Foundation, 2014. Text pp. 35, 198, 199, 275 (checklist); ill. p. 39, pl. 7 (color).
Homann, Joachim. Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art, 1860–1960. (exh. cat. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine) New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel and Brunswick, Maine: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 2015. Text p. 34; ill. p. 90, pl. 40 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 186, 187; ill. p. 187, detail pp. 188-189 (color).
William J. Glackens and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Affinities and Distinctions. (exh. cat. NSU Art Museum) Milan: Skira, 2018. Text p. 44; ill. p. 45 (color).