Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 1871 – 1951, Hanover, New Hampshire

At the age of 17 John Sloan taught himself to etch using Hammerton’s Handbook.  Sloan’s love
of printmaking would last throughout his lifetime and would be the medium in which he truly
excelled.  Later, like other members of the Eight, a group of early 20th century urban realists,
Sloan worked as an illustrator for the Philadelphia newspapers, while studying nights at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Robert Henri.  Sloan was greatly influenced by Henri
and like him believed in the beauty of daily life.  In his early work, Sloan used a bravura
brushstroke and dark palette, a technique inspired by Henri.

Sloan moved to New York in 1898 and produced book illustrations for Stephan Crane and
Charles Paul de Kock.  His artistic reputation rests largely on the urban genre etchings
(particularly the New York City Life suite) and paintings he created between 1904 and 1914.  The
public thought his subjects “vulgar” and refused to purchase his work and appreciation was slow
in coming.  His subject matter changed between 1914 and 1918, when Sloan painted a series of
scenes from his summers in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Sloan had already adopted the brighter
palette of Hardesty Maratta’s color system in 1909.  His subject changed again when he became
enamoured with American Indian life in Santa Fe during 1919-1928.  By the 1930s Sloan was
regarded by many to be the dean of American artists, achieving the success he had earlier been
denied.

(American, 1871 – 1951)