Frederik Usher DeVoll stands as a significant, if sometimes overlooked, figure in early 20th-century American art. An artist whose career bridged the late influences of American Impressionism and the burgeoning realism of the Ashcan School, DeVoll dedicated much of his oeuvre to capturing the vibrant, ever-changing life of New York City, as well as the quieter charms of New England. His work, often executed in the delicate yet expressive medium of pastels, offers a poetic glimpse into the urban American experience at a time of profound transformation.
Early Life and Artistic Awakening
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1873, Frederik Usher DeVoll's artistic journey began in his home state. He enrolled at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a crucible for many aspiring artists and designers. Graduating in 1896, at the age of 23, DeVoll was equipped with a solid foundation in academic artistic principles. Like many ambitious young American artists of his generation, he recognized that New York City was rapidly becoming the epicenter of the American art world, a place of immense opportunity and artistic ferment.
Upon relocating to New York, DeVoll sought out instruction from some of the most influential art educators of the period. He studied with William Merritt Chase, a leading American Impressionist renowned for his bravura brushwork, sophisticated use of color, and engaging portraits and landscapes. Chase's emphasis on direct observation and capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere would have undoubtedly left an impression on the young DeVoll.
Another key mentor was Charles Webster Hawthorne, founder of the Cape Cod School of Art. Hawthorne was celebrated for his powerful figure paintings, often depicting the fisherfolk of Provincetown, Massachusetts. He encouraged his students to see color in broad masses and to paint with decisiveness, lessons that DeVoll would carry into his own practice, particularly in his ability to simplify complex scenes into coherent compositions.
The Ashcan School and the Influence of Robert Henri
Perhaps the most profound influence on DeVoll's artistic direction was Robert Henri. Henri was more than just a teacher; he was a charismatic leader and the philosophical driving force behind the group of artists who would become known as the Ashcan School. Henri championed an art that was rooted in American life, urging artists to turn away from idealized, academic subjects and instead find beauty and significance in the everyday, often gritty, realities of the urban environment. His mantra, "art for life's sake," resonated deeply with a generation eager to forge a distinctly American artistic identity.
DeVoll absorbed Henri's teachings, which emphasized directness, honesty, and a vigorous engagement with the subject. The Ashcan School, whose core members included John Sloan, George Luks, Everett Shinn, and William Glackens (many of whom, like Henri, had backgrounds in newspaper illustration), focused on the teeming streets, bustling markets, crowded tenements, and lively entertainment venues of New York. Their work was characterized by a dark, tonal palette and a sense of immediacy, capturing the raw energy of the city. DeVoll's focus on New York's daily life, its streets, and its harbors clearly aligns him with the spirit and subject matter of this pivotal American art movement. While his palette might have sometimes been lighter or more atmospheric than some of his Ashcan peers, the underlying commitment to depicting contemporary urban reality was shared.
European Exposure and Broadening Perspectives
Around 1906 or 1907, DeVoll embarked on a journey to Europe, a customary rite of passage for American artists seeking to broaden their horizons and study the masterworks of the past and the innovations of the present. In Paris, he briefly attended the Académie Julian, a renowned private art school that attracted students from around the world, including many Americans. Paris at this time was a hotbed of artistic innovation. Fauvism, led by artists like Henri Matisse and André Derain, was in full swing with its shockingly bold colors and expressive forms. The early stirrings of Cubism were also beginning, with Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque on the verge of revolutionizing pictorial space.
While DeVoll remained largely committed to a realist-impressionist framework, his exposure to these avant-garde movements in Paris likely sharpened his awareness of color's expressive potential and the various ways form could be handled. The experience would have provided a valuable counterpoint to his American training, enriching his artistic vocabulary. The mention of Henri Matisse as an influence on DeVoll's style, as noted in some sources, likely refers to a broader absorption of modern European color sensibilities rather than a direct adoption of Fauvist principles. It speaks to an openness to contemporary currents that many American artists of his generation felt.
A Career Rooted in Urban and Coastal Scenes
Upon his return to the United States in 1907, DeVoll chose to settle in Boston, Massachusetts. However, New York City remained a primary source of inspiration, and he continued to create numerous paintings and sketches centered on its dynamic urban fabric. He also frequently traveled throughout New England, capturing its coastal scenery, harbors, and towns in his characteristic style. These excursions provided a contrast to the intensity of his New York subjects, allowing him to explore different qualities of light and atmosphere.
DeVoll's dedication to his craft and his distinctive vision earned him recognition within the art world. He was an active exhibitor, and his works were featured in various shows. In 1929, he held a significant solo exhibition at the Somerset Art Museum (which later became the Isenson Museum), showcasing his sketches of New York harbors and streets. This exhibition would have highlighted his skill in capturing the essence of these locations with immediacy and sensitivity. That same year, he also had a solo show at the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts (now the Everson Museum of Art), further cementing his reputation. His achievements were noted in contemporary art publications such as Art News and American Art, indicating his visibility and standing among his peers.
Signature Works and Artistic Style
Frederik Usher DeVoll was particularly adept with the medium of pastels, which allowed him to combine drawing and color with a remarkable softness and luminosity. His works often possess a poetic quality, a delicate texture that beautifully conveys atmospheric effects – the haze of the city, the shimmer of water, or the glow of artificial light.
One of his most representative works is The Night Song. This abstract pastel depicts the iconic Empire State Building at night, enveloped in a predominantly blue palette that evokes the ethereal quality of the city after dark. The composition, focusing on the skyscraper's silhouette against a moody, blue-toned sky, showcases DeVoll's ability to distill a complex urban view into a powerful, evocative image. The dimensions, approximately 10.13 x 13.5 inches, suggest an intimate work, yet it conveys a sense of monumentality. This piece, with its focus on nocturnal urban atmosphere, can be seen in dialogue with the "Nocturnes" of James McNeill Whistler, an earlier American expatriate artist who masterfully captured the subtle beauty of night scenes.
Another significant work, Sunshine and Smoke, East River, New York, earned DeVoll a prestigious Gold Medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915. This major international event was a showcase for arts and industries, and an award there was a significant honor. The title itself suggests a theme common to artists depicting the industrializing city: the interplay of natural beauty (sunshine) with the byproducts of urban progress (smoke). This work likely captured the bustling activity of the East River, a vital artery of commerce and transportation, with ships, tugboats, and the evolving skyline.
DeVoll's style, while influenced by the Ashcan School's realism, often leaned towards a more impressionistic rendering of light and atmosphere. He was less concerned with the gritty social commentary found in the work of, say, John Sloan or George Luks, and more attuned to the visual poetry of the city. His depictions of New York's skyline, its harbors teeming with activity, and its streets under varying conditions of light and weather, reveal a keen observational skill and a romantic sensibility. He shared with other American Impressionists like Childe Hassam a fascination with New York as a subject, though DeVoll's approach often had a softer, more blended quality, especially in his pastels, compared to Hassam's more broken brushwork.
The Artist's Milieu: Contemporaries and Context
DeVoll operated within a rich and diverse American art scene. Beyond his direct teachers and Ashcan colleagues, other important figures shaped the artistic landscape. Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri's own teacher, had established a powerful tradition of American realism. The "Eight," the group including Henri, Sloan, Luks, Glackens, Shinn, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, and Maurice Prendergast, famously exhibited together in 1908 in protest against the conservative policies of the National Academy of Design, an event that heralded the rise of independent artistic movements in America.
While DeVoll was not part of The Eight's core exhibition, his artistic concerns aligned closely with theirs. Artists like George Bellows, slightly younger but closely associated with Henri and the Ashcan group, also depicted the dynamism of New York with great vigor, often focusing on sporting events or dramatic cityscapes. Later, artists like Edward Hopper would take urban realism in a different direction, emphasizing themes of isolation and psychological introspection, but the groundwork laid by the Ashcan School and artists like DeVoll in legitimizing the American city as a subject for serious art was crucial.
DeVoll's choice to work frequently in pastels also places him in a lineage of artists who appreciated the medium's unique qualities. European artists like Edgar Degas had masterfully used pastels to capture modern life, and American artists like Mary Cassatt also excelled in the medium. DeVoll's application of pastels to urban American scenes contributed to the medium's versatility and expressive range.
Social Impact and Lasting Legacy
Frederik Usher DeVoll's work contributed to a broader cultural understanding and appreciation of the American urban environment. By focusing on the everyday scenes of New York City – its harbors, streets, and iconic buildings – he participated in the artistic documentation of a rapidly modernizing nation. His paintings and pastels offered viewers a vision of the city that was both realistic in its observation and poetic in its execution.
The recognition he received through exhibitions and awards during his lifetime attests to his standing in the contemporary art world. His works served as visual records of New York's architectural and social transformation in the early 20th century. While he may not have achieved the same level of posthumous fame as some of his more overtly rebellious Ashcan contemporaries or the pioneering modernists, his contribution is nonetheless valuable.
His art provides a nuanced perspective on the Ashcan School's broader aims, demonstrating that the depiction of urban life could encompass not only its raw energy and social issues but also its atmospheric beauty and moments of quiet contemplation. His focus on light, particularly in works like The Night Song, adds a lyrical dimension to the urban realist tradition.
Frederik Usher DeVoll passed away in 1941. His legacy resides in his sensitive and skillful portrayals of American life, particularly the urban spectacle of New York City. His paintings and pastels continue to be appreciated for their artistic merit and as historical documents that capture the spirit of an era. They offer a window into the visual culture of early 20th-century America, reflecting both the influence of established artistic traditions and the excitement of new ways of seeing and representing the world. For art historians and enthusiasts alike, DeVoll's work remains a testament to an artist deeply engaged with his time and place, a chronicler of urban vibrancy and atmospheric light.
