Along the River Front, New York
Everett Longley Warner
EVERETT LONGLEY WARNER, 1912. OIL ON CANVAS.
A leading figure of a doomed movement, Warner’s career faltered right as it was beginning what looked an astronomical rise. After years of training both in America and Europe as a young man, he established himself as a seminal figure of American impressionism at the turn of the century. The movement was by now past its prime in Europe but across the Atlantic was only beginning to rear its head. Warner was well positioned and building a significant public profile with solo and group shows, presenting work at the Worlds fair, winning awards for his paintings, and joining a Connecticut artist community that was the preeminent breeding ground for this new Impressionist movement. Yet in 1913, at the legendary Armory Show in New York, the American public were introduced to the European modernism, and the effective beginning of what we now understand as modern art. Just as soon as it entered the vogue, American Impressionism was out of date, out of touch, and undesirable in the face of this radical avant-garde. Warner continued to paint throughout his life, achieving moderate success and holding positions at important schools as a teacher, but the career that once seemed inevitable never materialised, despite his talents.