Xico Greenwald reviews the exhibition William Glackens at The Parrish Art Museum, on view through October 13, 2014.

Greenwald writes: "Later in life, when Glackens was complimented on an early Ashcan canvas, he replied, “It’s mud, life isn’t like that!” But he does not do his early work justice. Though later paintings had brighter colors, the chromatic relationships in his Renoire-esque canvases lack the force and refinement of his Ashcan work. On the other hand, if it had not been for Glackens’s embrace of avant-garde French painting, perhaps we would not have the cultural riches we enjoy today. In this comprehensive exhibition, visitors to the Parrish are left to ponder a complicated legacy."