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John Sloan

A Retrospective Exhibition of Etchings
February 16 – March 13, 1945

 
 
John Sloan
Dedham Castle (after Turner) 1888

"This pale little plate, the earliest of my efforts at etching, is so timidly bitten that it looks like a drypoint. The exciting action of the acid evidently frightened me so that it is hard for me to believe that the lines ever saw acid. Done at the age of seventeen."

John Sloan- Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
George Eliot 1890

"Made from a woodcut. While stronger than my first attempts, it has a sort of delicacy of approach that I haven't pushed much further."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Girl and Harp 1891

"A rather interesting example of a plate which was discarded because the ground had broken down and the acid had gotten out of control. Kept perhaps on account of a poetic quality."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
George W. Childs 1892

"(This plate was lost. I have no proofs of it.)"

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Schuylkill River 1894

"One of my few plates that looks like an etching from the connoisseur's point of view. It might be that had I pursued the direction here suggested my etchings might have become quite popular. The plate was made with William Glackens beside me, absorbing his first and only lesson in etching."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Girl Seated 1903
drypoint

"Is done in drypoint, a medium which has never appealed to me; consequently this is a rather lonely example in my output."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
C. K. Keller 1903

"A friend in the art department of the Philadelphia Press, this early plate is etched in a manner that shows a trifle too much delicacy. The hand is rather good, but it is very much under the influences of perspective."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Paul de Kock, Portrait (and 53 plates for books) 1904

"This large plate of Paul de Kock is a compilation from various contemporary portraits of the French novelist. From 1902 to 1905 I was engaged in making fifty-three etched illustrations for a limited edition of his works, which was published by Frederick J. Quimby, Boston."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Robert Henri 1905

"A sketch plate of my great friend and teacher, the distinguished painter, Robert Henri."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Will Bradner 1905

"A violinist friend in Philadelphia. This plate shows growing skill with the medium owing to the fact that I was producing the de Kock etchings at the time. The experience I gained in making over fifty plates during a period of three years did a great deal for my growth and proficiency as an etcher."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Flute Player 1905

"This was made shortly after my arrival in New York. I am sure he was less awed by the great city that I was at the time."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
James B. Moore, Esq. 1905

"A typical New York bon vivant Tammany man, a friend and patron of the artists. He started a restaurant of his own in competition with Mouquin's."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Connoisseurs of Prints 1905

"The first of my New York life plates. It shows an exhibition of prints that were to be auctioned at the old American Art Galleries on 23rd Street. The first of the series of "Connoisseurs" planned but never made."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Fifth Avenue Critics 1905

"These were typical of the fashionable ladies who used to drive up and down the Avenue about four o'clock of an afternoon, showing themselves and criticizing others."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Show Case 1905

"Material from west 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue appealed to me at this time. The devices of the toilette, which were then secrets, created more excitement among the adolescents than they would today."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Fun, One Cent 1905

"The Nickelodeon, with its hand-crafted moving photographs, was one of the attractions preceding the moving picture theaters. The one in which I garnered this bouquet of laughing girls was for many years on 14th Street near Third Avenue."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Man Monkey 1905

"In the side streets of the Chelsea and Greenwich Village districts, the one man band with hand organ accompanist furnished free entertainment to those who dropped no pennies.. He worked the horse-drawn traffic of the time, but before many years the automobile and motor truck cleared him from the streets."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Woman's Page 1905

"Observations of life in furnished rooms back of my 23rd Street studio inspired many of my etchings and paintings of this period. Done with sympathy but no 'social consciousness.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Man, Wife and Child 1905

"The conjugal status given by this title has, I hope, prevented any improper interpretation being placed on this scene. A small family in scant quarters."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Turning Out the Light 1905

"This plate has 'charm.' A verdict handed down by a very well known art critic of those days, Russell Sturgis, to whom I showed this group of my New York etchings. Perhaps it has, I'm not interested."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Little Bride 1905

"Back in 1906 there was a considerable French population north of 23rd Street, and the church near the Proctor's Theater was known as the French Church. The stone steps down which these newly-weds are escaping have since been removed."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Roofs, Summer Night 1906

"I have always liked to watch the people in the summer, especially the way they live on the roofs. For many years I have not seen the summer life of the city, which has perhaps been better for my health than my production of city life etchings."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Mother 1906

"For many years my mother was an invalid, but a happy one. Her interest in life and her wit and humor were unfailing to the end."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Memory 1906

"A memorial plate made after Linda Henri died, an intimate print which has become one of the most popular of my etchings."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Jewelry Store Window 1906

"This plate was made for 'Canzoni' by T. A. Daly, whose sentimentally humorous Dago dialect poems were nationally known."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Treasure Trove 1907

"This was a demonstration plate made to show the technical routine of biting various types of linework. Sometimes admired for its rather romantic treatment, but for the same reason not much to my liking."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Copyist at the Museum 1908

"I remember having trouble with an attempt at likenesses of myself and Dolly in the foreground of this plate. Why should the artist be so critical in such an unimportant matter."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Christmas Dinners 1909

"While contributions drop into the pot the city derelict wonders if he will live to dine. A sketch plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Turkey from Uncle 1910

"Two years have passed with few etchings. I remember an intensified interest in painting. During this period I first painted Hardesty Maratta's colors, the use of which gave me my first real insight into color principles."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Night Windows 1910

"While his faithful wife is doing the wash downstairs my neighbor casts a roving eye across the area way. A commonplace or even vulgar incident may produce a work of art."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Girl and Beggar 1910

"Twenty-third Street, a winter night, and two haunters of the sidewalk. 'Putting the Best Foot Forward,' a drawing made for Harper's Weekly was a variant on this theme."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Picture Buyer 1911

"William Macbeth hopes to make a sale. Casual visitors to his gallery tiptoe about, awed by the presence of purchasing power. A strong plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Anshutz on Anatomy 1912

"Tom Anschutz, our old teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy, gave anatomical demonstrations of great value to art students. Modeling the muscles in clay, he would then fix them in place on the skeleton. Those present in this etched record of a talk in Henri's New York class include: Robert and Linda Henri, George Bellows, Walter Pach, Rockwell Kent, John and Dolly Sloan."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Serenade 1912

"Another frontispiece for a second collection of Tom Daly's Dago dialect verses."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Swinging in the Square 1912

"I have always had enthusiastic interest in unspoiled girlhood, more in evidence in 1912 than now. Growth toward real womanhood is so often check at about this age."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Hanging Clothes 1912

"One of several small plates that were sent to friends at New Year's."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Rag Pickers 1913

"A glimpse into one of the cellars in West Third Street under the elevated tracks which were occupied by rag sorters."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Combing her Hair 1913

"The secrets of the toilette as revealed to an incorrigible window watcher. Might have been called 'At the Switch.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Prone Nude 1913

"My painting of the figure made at this period lack the graphic expression in which lies the chief merit of this plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Head with Necklace 1913

Not an important plate, but it has some technical relationship to Rembrandt, greatest of all teachers."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Girl in Kimono 1913

"Less reality is found in this plate than in most others of this period, for the reason that it was made directly from life. I feel that it is too much a visual record. The earnest study from the living model in the plates I etched from 1931 to 1933 was directed toward more dynamic realization, beyond visual."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Girls Running 1914

"This plate is another arising from my love for untamed womanhood. Made from reality because made from memory, like all of my city life etchings."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Woman and Child on Roof 1914

"The heat of summer in New York drives the folks at home to the roofs of the tenements, where extemporized shelters make spots that are comparatively cool. I suppose there are evidences of 'social consciousness' in this plate, but I hope no sentimentality."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Love on the Roof 1914

"Poetic license probably permitted me to introduce many details in these city life plates. Note the protest of the fluttering garments and the neglected child."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Isadora Duncan 1915

"When this great American and international high priestess of the dance returned from France at the outbreak of World War 1, for her first appearance in two years, after the tragic death of her children, she lacked the slenderness but was still, in my opinion, the greatest dancer on earth."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Barber Shop 1915

"Done on a zinc plate which is not susceptible to delicate biting. The linework was etched first, then the plate coated with powdered resin and prepared for aquatint in the usual manner. The lightest areas were blocked out first with stopping varnish, then medium darks, while the darkest were exposed the longest to the acid bath. I don't remember making any previous experiments with aquatint."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Greetings, 1915 1915

"One of my New Year's plates. I watched this little mother as she watched the world go by."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Girls Sliding 1915

"Healthy happy girls putting on a floor show for appreciative bums in Washington Square."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Return from Toil 1915

"A bevy of boisterous girls with plenty of energy left after a hard day's work. A simplified version of this subject was made for a cover drawing of The Masses."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Mars and Bacchante 1915

"A happy old harridan of pre-Prohibition days has constituted herself a problem by seeking support from the U.S. Mail Box."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Silence (Isaac Rice) 1915

"Isaac Rice's chief claim to fame in the fact that he backed Holland in his early experiments with submarine vessels. This post-mortem etching was commissioned by his widow as a memorial. George Bellows made a drawing at the same time."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Isaac Rice 1915

"Isaac Rice was known among chess players as the inventor of the 'Rice Gambit.' This portrait, commissioned by Mrs. Rice, was compiled from various photographic sources."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
McSorley's Back Room 1916

"Old John McSorley and two friends in the back room of the now famous McSorley's Old House at Home. Nothing but ale was ever served there."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Calf Love 1916

"Adolescent affection expresses itself in slaps and kicks and general rough handling."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Standing Nude 1916

"May be compared with the nudes etched in the Thirties, although the plate is relatively trivial in purpose."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Growing up in Greenwich 1917

"A glimpse of the trials of a Village girl emerging into young ladyhood."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Sidewalk 1917

"An everyday incident on New York's East Side. A plate missing from most American collections."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Mosaic 1917

"The plate is a satire on abstract art, and implies that followers of this trend are obeying the Mosaic Law."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
"Hell Hole" 1917

"The back room of Wallace's at Sixth Avenue and West Fourth Street was a gathering place for artists, writers and bohemians of Greenwich Village. The character in the upper right hand corner of the plate is Eugene O'Neill. Strongly etched lines are reinforced by aquatint tones."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Arch Conspirators 1917

"A mid-winter party on the roof of the Washington Square Arch. Among those present: Marcel Duchamp (Nude Descending the Stairs), Charles Ellis (actor), John Sloan, and Gertrude Smith (Woe) instigator of the affair. A document was drawn up to establish the secession of Greenwich Village from the United States, and claiming protection of President Wilson as one of the mall nations. The door of the Arch stairway has since been kept locked."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Seeing New York 1917

"Poultry on the way to East Side execution. A sketch plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude Sketches 1917

"Needled on the plate directly from life. This etching is interesting in its gradations of biting, which are well controlled."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
New Year's Eve and Adam 1918

"With some degree of exaggeration this records an incident of the holiday season in a New York hotel."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Bandit's Cave 1920

"Uptown thrill seekers during the period of Prohibition are about to venture into a basement 'tea room' in Bohemia."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Bonfire 1920

"This fire frolic on a vacant lot has resulted in a plate with fine qualities of light and movement."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Boys Sledding 1920

"A lively impression from Washington Square after a snowstorm. In going back over my etchings for the purpose of these comments, it seems notable that I have been more interested in life than in 'art.' Too many of us today are over-concerned with formulas. There is little doubt, however, that we will emerge eventually better artists for having been through a period of conscious study."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Movie Troupe 1920

"Director, leading man, leading lady, and camera man have made use of one of the picturesque backgrounds to be found in Greenwich Village at that time."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Fire Can 1921

"A New Year plate dealing with the 'fun with fire' theme."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Little Woman 1921

"This plate was made on New Year's eve. While my wife was dozing in the New Year I made this etching 'to start the New Year right.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Stealing the Wash 1921

"A connoisseur in woolen underwear makes his selection from a wash hung out on the roofs below my studio window."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Invitation 1921

"This little plate in which the technique is so well adapted to the scale, foretells a gay party at the studio."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Patrol Party 1921

"Another 'invitation' plate for a studio party during Prohibition. Here again the technique is well adapted to the size of the plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Dragon of the Rio Grande 1922

"There are few landscaped etchings among my works."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Sisters at the Window 1923

"A girl on the brink of adolescence under the watchful eye of her younger sister, both under the watchful eye of the neighboring etcher. Subject matter which produced one of my best plates."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Herself in Chair 1923

"Darning the stockings of 'himself' is a study of studio life, with light quality well rendered."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Rector's Daughter 1923

"Ann Rector, a student at the League who married Duffy, well known cartoonist of the Baltimore Sun."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Sixth Avenue, Greenwich Village 1923

"Looking at this etching with the plates of Albrecht Durer in mind, one notes great differences in design and technique. Here, life is stressed and formal composition is less evident, the handling more emotional. A comparison of extremes, perhaps."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Shine in the Square 1923

It has been said that my work has been influenced by Cruikshank, but no critic has traced it to its true source which is the work of John Leech, particularly in his Punch drawings. Cruikshank's people always have a quality of caricature."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Washington Arch 1923

"A simple and telling design which would have been weakened by more delicate technical approach."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Bob Cat Wins 1924

"A feminine row outside a 'tea room' during the days of Prohibition, demonstrating the advantages of the new bobbed hair in such an encounter."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Snowstorm in the Village 1925

"Viewed from my studio on Washington Place, the Jefferson Market Court tower and the elevated tracks on Sixth Avenue under a swirl of snow."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
"Patience" 1925

"An operatic episode. My memory fails to provide the names and place, but the plate makes its own record."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Sculpture in Washington Square 1925

"The title refers to the Garibaldi statue, the Washington Arch, the snow man and the helter skelter Tammany tree surgery. The life of Washington Square furnished me with much material I often regret leaving the neighborhood."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Busses in Washington Square 1925

"Holiday afternoons and Sunday were busy days for the Riverside buses leaving the Square. My studio windows overlooked this patient crowd; this etching and several paintings of similar scenes resulted."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
A. Enters, Contre-dance 1926

"The first of a number of plates which were inspired by the charming and original dance episodes of Angna Enters. This is the only one for which she posed."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude with Mirror 1926

"Line and aquatint. It may be here noted that with me aquatint tones have no delicate transition nor do I desire such."

John Sloan-Comments on Etchings
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
X-rays 1926

"A consultation on the interior arrangements of John Sloan, this aquatint has always amused friends in the medical profession."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Subway Stairs 1926

"In modern times incoming trains cause updrafts in the subway entrances. Getting on an omnibus in the hoop-skirt period was exciting in great grandmother's day."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Reading in the Subway 1926

"As Sir John Suckling wrote in 1620:
'Her feet beneath her perricoat
Like little mice peeped in and out,
As id they feared the light.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Fashions of the Past 1926

"A well-arranged shop window and the contrasting costumes of the passers-by, whose dress of the time will in turn become costumes of the past."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Easter Eve, Washington Square 1926

"An aquatint record of an April shower, happy girls and spring flowers."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Miss Angna Enters in "Rendez-vous" (No. 1) 1926

"A plate made for New Year's -the title '1927 Enters.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Miss Angna Enters in "Rendez-vous" (No. 2) 1926

"No one could be more able than Miss Enters to recreate the beauty of woman in the costumes of past days. The spectator is carried back to live in the past and he has a sensation of contemporary appreciation."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Twenty-fifth Anniversary 1926

"An invitation to what turned out to be a very jolly affair in the garden of our Santa Fe studio."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Kraushaar's 1926

"My old friend, John F. Kraushaar engaged in the difficult job of selling a picture to a man whose wife feels she needs sables."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Indian Detour 1927

"A satire on the Harvey Indian Tour. Buses take the tourists out to view the Indian dances, which are religious ceremonials and naturally understood as such by the visiting crowds."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Enters in "Odalisque" 1927

"Miss Enters' beautiful and sensuous interpretation of Renoir's painting of the same title."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Knees and Aborigines 1927

"A civilized audience when skirts were at their height, viewing modestly dressed savages at a pueblo Indian dance in New Mexico. Perhaps the pun may be permitted."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Lafayette 1928

"An old restaurant and hotel whose French cuisine has been for years and still is regarded as one of the best in New York. The atmosphere of the Nineteenth Century remains."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude Reading 1928

"This nude posed in the etcher's studio gives the first strong evidence of sculptural approach. It is interesting to recall that the same quality is being sought in the paintings of and since that time."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Fourteenth Street, "The Wigman" 1928

"Old Tammany Hall, headquarters of the bosses of New York City, has ceased to exist. It lurked, menacing, in dingy red brick, facing the tawdry amusements of East Fourteenth Street."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Frankie and Johnnie 1928

"A small chorus singing 'Frankie and Johnnie' crowds the tiny stage of Provincetown Players Theater in Macdougall Street."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Seven Toed Pete 1929

"This plate was produced on order of a patron who was much interested in the card game so named."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Dolly 1929

"A worthy plate, but being family portraiture it never seemed entirely successful as a likeness, a common defect of good portraits."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Antique a la Francaise 1929

"With all of its precision this plate has a satisfactory sense of the life and artistry of Angna Enters' marvelous dance episodes. Some line engraving is used in addition to the etching."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on Stairs 1930

"One of the larger plates and quite a successful translation of form and color-sculpture."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
"Up the Line, Miss?" 1930

"A young lady of Greenwich Village who is about to treat herself to an afternoon drive on Fifth Avenue. Etched from a sketch made years before."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Pavanna 1930

"This plate has merits but it lacks the disdainful majesty of Miss Enters' portrayal of a proud, sensual and religious Spanish aristocrat."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Salesmanship 1930

"The wily art of selling a thing that is neither liked nor wanted."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Green Hour 1930

"I have made several etchings produced under the inspiration of the creative genius of Angna Enters. This one has given me great satisfaction.
(Drawing on tissue paper)
Sketch note made on the spot, and the final plan worked out on tissue paper from which the main outlines were traced on the smoked wax-covered copper plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on Draped Couch 1931

"Now begins the period of sustained interest in the nude figure, both in my etchings and paintings, which holds me to the present day. This plate has good sculptural qualities."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Crouching Nude and Press 1931

"A very successful plate, a favorite of both the artist and some print collectors."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Robert Henri, Painter 1931

"Made after his death, from a planned portrait sketch of twenty five years before. I am well pleased with the plate and hope that is conveys some of the kindly strength and helpful wisdom which this great artist so freely gave to others."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude with Cigarette 1931

"The nudes of this period were needled directly on the plate without preliminary studies, and when they achieve results like this I feel they are of lasting importance."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Half Nude on Elbow 1931

"Here there is an attempt at linework of too much delicacy which interferes with the sense of realization."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude by Bookcase 1931

"Nothing could be less informative or romantic than the titles of these etchings. Perhaps I should have called one 'Poetry.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Long Prone Nude 1931

"The general effect is delicate, but it is robust in drawing. Has monumental characteristics."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude in Shadow 1931

"Here I attempted the difficult problem of drawing a figure entirely in shadow without losing the sense of solidity."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude and Etching Press 1931

"If I am not mistaken this plate has charm, not, however, of a kind that I would object to."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude Resting on Elbow 1931

"Might this plate be too skillful and technically proficient? Perhaps as well that it is in this way rather an exception."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude with Furniture 1931

"This etching seems to catch the 'ethereal' quality of flesh amid furniture and draperies, although I must admit I had no such purpose in mind."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on the Floor 1931

"One of the best of this group of etchings. Shows my interest in achieving foreshortening without perspective. I have said a great deal about this in my Gist of Art. Line engraving is introduced in this plate."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude with Bowl of Fruit 1931

"Thirty-one nude subjects were etched between 1930 and 1933, and at the same time many canvases were painted. The most appreciative remark I have ever heard made about this print was 'she looks like metal.' My liking for this expression indicates the fact that I am not interested in the delicate beauty of human flesh. Worthwhile sculpture has no such sensuous interest."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude with Halo 1931

"I think we can all agree that this lacks the voluptuous charm of a Boucher or a Fragonard. 'T is well."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on Studio Couch 1931

"Rather nice in technique. I am glad they are not all nice this way."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on Posing Stand 1931

"The technical delicacy of this plate is more likely to please others that the artist. I has good tonal qualities and perhaps 'charm.'"

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on Chaise Lounge by Window 1933

"I had intended to go on with this plate; however, experience tells me that further work does not always mean improvement."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude Leaning over Chaise Lounge 1933

"This is more sensitive than some others of this period, but has also sufficient strength and perhaps beauty."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude Foreshortened 1933

"The presence of some engraved lines in this plate makes many of the etched lines seem to have the same quality."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude on Hearth 1933

"This painting is to me related to the painting of Renoir, which is not surprising since I believe the approach is similar to the painter's approach to realization."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude with Wine Glass 1933

"This will become a rare state as soon as I get around to clearing up the face, which is at present inconsistent."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude in Armchair by Fireplace 1933

"Many of these plates will be better appreciated when print collectors break through their conventional attitude toward technique and subject matter."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Brunette Head and Shoulders 1933

"A color-sculptural result is achieved here which is all too infrequently found in etchings."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude and Arch 1933

"For about ten years my studio overlooked Washington Square, in a house remodelled by George Inness, Jr., son of the great landscape painter."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude Standing on Stairway 1933

"Most of these figure etchings are, I trust, quite lacking in emotional appeal. But many have no lack of sculptural integrity."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude at Dressing Table 1933

"I hope, and I almost believe, that some day more people will join the artist in linking the nude plates of 1931-1933."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude at Piano 1933

"A strong relationship between this etching and the painting of Renoir is to me quite noticeable. My own best results in painting of the nude are made with the same graphic intent."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude and Breakfast Tray 1933

"This plate is very satisfactory to its producer and it might be hoped that general appreciation may come eventually. If the figure to you looks like brass, I thoroughly agree; that is one reason why I like it. Too many nudes absolutely fail as art because they look like flesh looks."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude at Bedside 1933

"Many of these nude study plates have invented accessories, which in this case assist the figure considerably."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Standing Nude 1933

"The figure etches, and the background engraved with the burin."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Nude and Newspapers 1933

"Strong in drawing and striking in black and white relationships. Real and not realistic; has carrying power that may sometimes be desirable in a print. Going further in color-texture had perhaps been my intention but it is just as well that I left the plate when I did. Perhaps before long the public will begin to realize that nudes are not necessarily cheaply realistic, sentimental, or even sensuous as Thomas Craven seems to demand."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Romany Marye in Christopher Street, 1922 1936

"All Greenwich Villagers know Romany Marye, who has acted the part of hostess, philosopher and friend in her series of quiet little restaurants for the past thirty-five years. The etching shows her chatting in her deep comfortable voice to Dolly and myself."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Dolly Sloan 1936

"On account of the graphic experiment going on in this etching, it is best viewed from distance of about three feet, as perspective is deliberately reversed."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Better Mouse-traps? 1937

"Someone has written- if a man excel in anything, even if it only be in making better mouse-traps, the world will make a path to his door."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Snow on the Range 1937

"Early in October the Sangre de Christo Range wears its first blanket of snow."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Winnowing Wheat 1937

"A primitive process still to be seen in the Indian villages of the New World."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Sante Fe Family 1937

"A burro carries the male, the senora and child proceed on foot."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Black Pot 1937

"The potter's art bridges the gulf between two civilizations."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Hombres in the Sun 1937

"Sante Fe winter: warm in the sun, cold in the shade."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
150- 165. Plates for "Of Human Bondage" 1937

"Plates made for Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage, published by the Limited Editions Club. Of Human Bondage is a great and strong novel and I welcomed the opportunity of making sixteen etchings for the Limited Editions Club. I dare not hope that the illustrations I made reach the perfection of Somerset Maugham's masterpiece.
(Drawings)
Preliminary drawings for the etchings were made on tissue paper, then coated with paraffin, reversed and traced on the etching ground."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
A Thirst for Art 1938

"One of those exhibition opening cocktails parties. Enthusiasm resulting from the lifting of Prohibition prevails over interest in art."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Their Appointed Rounds 1939

"A mezzotint practically. It was a discarded plate that I ground down on a carborundum wheel. Then I etched the drawing, took the wax off and burnished down the surface to make the lights. The highest whites were most highly polished."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
The Shell of Hell 1939

"Etching and mezzotint. This plate made in January, 1939, is an expression of the idea that uniforms are one of the basic devices of militarism. The world began to go to war a few months later."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Sunbathers on the Roof 1941

"Twenty years during which my summers were spent in Sante Fe, lessened my opportunities of studying New York life at its best in the summer. This etching, done many years after most of my New York plates, is, I think, of equal merit."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 
John Sloan
Fifth Avenue, 1909 1941

"My most recent etching and my most honored, a prize winner in fact. I hardly think the plate deserves this distinction, but prizes have always been the least of my worries."

John Sloan-Comments on Etching
Originally published in conjunction with the exhibition.
 

   
   
The Renaissance Society
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Thu  Mar 28, 2024