Arriving in Philadelphia in 1888, Shinn enrolled at the Spring Garden Institute where he studied mechanical engineering for two years. After an unrewarding job designing for the Thakeray Gas Fixture Works, Shinn began formal art training at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts (1893-97) and worked nights for the Philadelphia papers. During this period he fell in with Glackens, Luks, Sloan and Henri, and participated in the amateur theatricals at Henri's studio in Philadelphia.
By 1897 Shinn was in New York sketching for the New York World. In 1898 he married Florence (Flossie) Scovel of the Philadelphia Biddle family and an illustrator in her own right. In 1899 he had his first one man exhibition at the Philadelphia Academy, a larger show at Boussod, Valadon & Co. in New York in 1900 and at Goupil's in Paris where he was travelling with Flossie. His specialty was pastels. Shinn's career flourished during this period, exhibiting widely and illustrating for the most prestigious magazines, including Harper's. His artistic career culminated with his inclusion in the exhibition of The Eight at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908 and the Independents Exhibition of 1910.
In 1898 Shinn met Clyde Fitch, the playwright, Elsie de Wolfe, the decorator, Stanford White and David Belasco. Through these contacts Shinn began a career as muralist and interior decorator, working in a Louis XVI rococo revival manner.
During this period Shinn formed the Waverly Street Players, which performed in a 55 seat theatre in his home at 112 Waverly Place. Shinn wrote, directed, produced, made scenery for, and casted the plays. Participating in these dramas were himself and Flossie, the Glackenses, Jimmy Preston, Ben Ali Haggin, the Bellows' and the Henris, among others. The plays, the most famous of which was The Prune Hater's Daughter (1912), were reviewed in The New York Times. Theodore Dreiser's novel The Genius (1911) was based on the life of Shinn.
In 1917 Shinn began work as art director in the motion picture industry, working for Goldwyn Pictures (1917-20), Inspiration Pictures (1920-23) and Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures (1923).
Shinn continued to paint, illustrate, do murals and exhibit for the remainder of his life, although he was ostracized by many of his early friends for going too commercial with his art. From 1943-48 Shinn was represnted by Frederick Newlin Price of the Feragil Galleries, and at the same time James Vigeveno of Los Angeles was handlin his clown paintings, a subject in which Shinn specialized in his later years.
Shinn's married life was complex. He divorced Flossie in 1912, married Corinne Baldwin in 1913, Gertrude Chase in 1924, and Paula Downing in 1933.
