Sketch for Chateau Thierry

Chateau-Thierry displays Glackens's personal variation on the French Impressionists' interests in color, atmosphere, and scenes of middle-class leisure. The painting resulted from a trip Glackens took to the village of Chateau-Thierry, located on the Marne River, while honeymooning in France. The man and woman in bathing costumes crossing the sunlit path in the middleground are Glackens and his wife Edith, while the figure in red swim trunks who is about to dive into the water is Glackens's friend and fellow artist Alfred Maurer (see his Woman in Interior in this room, and Red Table Top Still Life and Head in room 4). Glackens's ability to capture the rich pageant of life along the river stemmed from his early career as a Philadelphia newspaper illustrator, which trained him to draw scenes quickly.

Glackens made few changes when translating his small, lively sketch into the larger, finished painting. He removed a flagpole and flag that appear in the center of the sketch, perhaps thinking that they cluttered the composition.