JOHN SLOAN (1871-1951) Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket:...
PROPERTY FROM A PROMINENT NEW ENGLAND COLLECTION
JOHN SLOAN (1871-1951)
Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work
signed 'John Sloan' (upper right, verso) and inscribed 'BRUNETTE NUDE' (on the tacking edge)
oil on canvas
33 x 39 1/4 in. (83.8 x 99.7 cm.)
Painted in 1917; Painted in 1928-30.
Footnotes
Provenance
Ruth Martin, New York, by 1971.
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, acquired from the above, by 1980.
The Regis Collection, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York.
R.H. Love Galleries, Chicago, Illinois.
Le Chateau Fine Arts & Antiques, LLC, Greenwich, Connecticut.
Private collection, Los Angeles, acquired from the above, 1996.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2024.
Exhibited
New York, The Brooklyn Museum, Six American Artists: Brook, Du Bois, Flannagan, Kroll, Sheeler & Sloan, October 20-November 24, 1936.
Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, John Sloan: 1871-1951, September 18–October 31, 1971, pp. 190, 214, no. 157, illustrated, and elsewhere. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
New York, Salander O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., The Ruth Martin Collection of Paintings by John Sloan, March 4-April 5, 1980, n.p., no. 17, illustrated. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
Hanover, New Hampshire, Hood Museum of Art, John Sloan: Paintings, Prints, Drawings, October 2, 1981-January 3, 1982, pp. 62-63, 78-79, nos. 20, 28, illustrated, and elsewhere. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket and Gloucester Landscape)
Literature
A.H. Ross, A Checklist for John Sloan's Paintings, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 1970, p. 39, no. 255. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
G. Holcomb III, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of John Sloan, 1900-1913, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 1972, pp. v, 56-57, fig. 12, illustrated. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
D.W. Scott, John Sloan, New York, 1975, pp. 181, 221, illustrated. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
M. Cochran, H.F. Sloan, R.L. McGrath, John Sloan: Paintings, Prints, Drawings, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1981, no. 20, p. 20.
R. Elzea, John Sloan's Oil Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné, Newark, Delaware, 1991, pt. one, pp. 204-5, no. 505, illustrated; pt. two, pp. 309-10, 532, 537, no. 850, illustrated. (as Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work offers an opportunity to consider the artistic practice of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Painted on opposite sides of the same canvas are a Gloucester landscape dating from 1917 and a nude dating from 1928–30. Separated by more than a decade, the two compositions reflect distinct chapters in Sloan's oeuvre and reveal the artist's return to an earlier support long after its original use. The double-sided nature of the work provides a tangible link between Sloan's Gloucester landscapes of the 1910s and his later explorations of the nude in the 1920s, uniting two otherwise disparate moments in his career on a single support.
From 1914 to 1918, John Sloan found in Gloucester's windswept coast a rare and sustaining source of inspiration. Sloan spent five consecutive summers renting Red Cottage near Rocky Neck in East Gloucester. He devoted himself to exploring the city's rocky shores, sketching its working waterfront, and absorbing the mutable light that danced across the water of the harbor. The landscape's natural beauty became a living canvas, offering Sloan an arena in which to probe the interplay of color and texture and to explore form with a freedom that invigorated his brush. In Gloucester, the seascape, main streets, and scenes of everyday life were not merely recorded but continually reimagined and transformed through his evolving artistic vision. Sloan was not alone in his admiration for Gloucester's coastal landscape. American artists such as Fitz Hugh Lane (1804–1865), Winslow Homer (1836–1910), Childe Hassam (1859–1935), Maurice Prendergast (1858–1924), Stuart Davis (1892–1964) and Edward Hopper (1882–1967) likewise turned to the North Shore, each capturing its distinctive atmosphere and quiet rhythms in their own unique way. Together, these artists helped establish Gloucester as one of the most enduring artistic centers in American art.
Following the heralded Armory Show in 1913, Sloan's artistic approach underwent a decisive shift after encountering works by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), and Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). Reflecting on this experience, he later remarked, "I realized that they had a 'habit of working.' My way had been, since I had so little time to work for myself, to wait until I had an idea for a picture. Of course, I painted some portraits of friends and did some small landscapes when I had a week or two off in the summer, but at the age of forty I realized that I needed some new ways to keep at work. I saw that the European artists kept themselves going, with any kind of subject, landscape, or portrait, or still life (in any style). This method produces more work, more 'studies'; but it also leads to the discovery of new motivations. I made up my mind to save enough money to take a few months off to paint landscape in Gloucester." (The John Sloan Exhibit, exhibition catalogue, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 1970, p. 5) This resolve marked a turning point, enabling Sloan to devote sustained attention to landscape painting and ultimately to broaden his painterly practice.
During his Massachusetts summers, Sloan prioritized painting en plein air, using the immediacy of direct observation outdoors to further refine his approach. At this time, he engaged deeply with Hardesty Maratta's color system through published writings, as well as through extensive discussions with Robert Henri (1865–1929), while drawing upon the rich variety of subjects available to him. These summers in Gloucester marked an extraordinary enhancement of Sloan's creative output. 292 paintings emerged from this period, including the present work. (John Sloan: Gloucester Days, exhibition catalogue, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 2015, p. 12) Each captures the vitality, subtle rhythms, and luminous moods of a landscape he had come to know intimately. It was a moment when experimentation and observation coalesced, producing a body of work that not only affirms Sloan's command of realism but also conveys a heightened sense of immediacy and presence. Landscape Sketch exhibits his prowess by allowing topographical fixtures in the landscape to dictate subtle movements on the canvas. Perched atop a high cliff, Sloan chose to depict three figures and a dog trotting along a dirt path. In the far distance, houses are stacked alongside one another in a similar manner to some of the rock formations in the immediate foreground. These interplays of shape and color speak to key compositional hallmarks of Sloan's Gloucester period.
Landscape Sketch offers a lens into the evolution of Sloan's en plein air painting, while Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket provides a glimpse into the stylistic evolution of a subject he had first explored seriously in the 1910s. In Gist of Art, Sloan writes, "I don't like a nude that looks too much like human flesh. I think it might better have a dry, hard look, be sculpture with color-textures like a piece of bronze." (J. Sloan, John Sloan on Drawing and Painting (Gist of Art), Mineola, New York, 1944, p. 87)
In his first serious exploration of the nude on canvas dating from the 1910s, Sloan's painterly handling of the subject, coupled with a soft palette, produced a softly modeled, comparatively restrained figure. Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket illustrates the evolution in the artist's style as it is a "linear, tightly controlled painting...Sloan twisted and turned the figure in order to obtain a more dynamic organization of space." (G. Holcomb III, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of John Sloan, 1900-1913, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 1972, p. 56) The model's dynamic pose is further contrasted through the horizontal striped blanket she sits atop. During the late 1920s, Sloan also incorporated lines and cross-hatching into his figuration, which is also evident in the present work.
Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work speaks to the evolution of John Sloan's artistic exploration. The former documents his search for new ways of sustaining his artistic practice, while the latter shows a deviation from the artist's earlier conceptualization of the nude. It is fitting then that this work was once in the collection of Ruth Martin, a friend and former sitter of John Sloan who at one point amassed the largest collection of the artist's works in private hands. Even though the two sides are separated by more than a decade, the work informs our understanding of Sloan, revealing how his style evolved and matured across distinct periods of his career.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
PROPERTY FROM A PROMINENT NEW ENGLAND COLLECTION
JOHN SLOAN (1871-1951)
Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work
signed 'John Sloan' (upper right, verso) and inscribed 'BRUNETTE NUDE' (on the tacking edge)
oil on canvas
33 x 39 1/4 in. (83.8 x 99.7 cm.)
Painted in 1917; Painted in 1928-30.
Footnotes
Provenance
Ruth Martin, New York, by 1971.
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, acquired from the above, by 1980.
The Regis Collection, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York.
R.H. Love Galleries, Chicago, Illinois.
Le Chateau Fine Arts & Antiques, LLC, Greenwich, Connecticut.
Private collection, Los Angeles, acquired from the above, 1996.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2024.
Exhibited
New York, The Brooklyn Museum, Six American Artists: Brook, Du Bois, Flannagan, Kroll, Sheeler & Sloan, October 20-November 24, 1936.
Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, John Sloan: 1871-1951, September 18–October 31, 1971, pp. 190, 214, no. 157, illustrated, and elsewhere. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
New York, Salander O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., The Ruth Martin Collection of Paintings by John Sloan, March 4-April 5, 1980, n.p., no. 17, illustrated. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
Hanover, New Hampshire, Hood Museum of Art, John Sloan: Paintings, Prints, Drawings, October 2, 1981-January 3, 1982, pp. 62-63, 78-79, nos. 20, 28, illustrated, and elsewhere. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket and Gloucester Landscape)
Literature
A.H. Ross, A Checklist for John Sloan's Paintings, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 1970, p. 39, no. 255. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
G. Holcomb III, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of John Sloan, 1900-1913, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 1972, pp. v, 56-57, fig. 12, illustrated. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
D.W. Scott, John Sloan, New York, 1975, pp. 181, 221, illustrated. (as Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
M. Cochran, H.F. Sloan, R.L. McGrath, John Sloan: Paintings, Prints, Drawings, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1981, no. 20, p. 20.
R. Elzea, John Sloan's Oil Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné, Newark, Delaware, 1991, pt. one, pp. 204-5, no. 505, illustrated; pt. two, pp. 309-10, 532, 537, no. 850, illustrated. (as Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket)
Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work offers an opportunity to consider the artistic practice of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Painted on opposite sides of the same canvas are a Gloucester landscape dating from 1917 and a nude dating from 1928–30. Separated by more than a decade, the two compositions reflect distinct chapters in Sloan's oeuvre and reveal the artist's return to an earlier support long after its original use. The double-sided nature of the work provides a tangible link between Sloan's Gloucester landscapes of the 1910s and his later explorations of the nude in the 1920s, uniting two otherwise disparate moments in his career on a single support.
From 1914 to 1918, John Sloan found in Gloucester's windswept coast a rare and sustaining source of inspiration. Sloan spent five consecutive summers renting Red Cottage near Rocky Neck in East Gloucester. He devoted himself to exploring the city's rocky shores, sketching its working waterfront, and absorbing the mutable light that danced across the water of the harbor. The landscape's natural beauty became a living canvas, offering Sloan an arena in which to probe the interplay of color and texture and to explore form with a freedom that invigorated his brush. In Gloucester, the seascape, main streets, and scenes of everyday life were not merely recorded but continually reimagined and transformed through his evolving artistic vision. Sloan was not alone in his admiration for Gloucester's coastal landscape. American artists such as Fitz Hugh Lane (1804–1865), Winslow Homer (1836–1910), Childe Hassam (1859–1935), Maurice Prendergast (1858–1924), Stuart Davis (1892–1964) and Edward Hopper (1882–1967) likewise turned to the North Shore, each capturing its distinctive atmosphere and quiet rhythms in their own unique way. Together, these artists helped establish Gloucester as one of the most enduring artistic centers in American art.
Following the heralded Armory Show in 1913, Sloan's artistic approach underwent a decisive shift after encountering works by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), and Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). Reflecting on this experience, he later remarked, "I realized that they had a 'habit of working.' My way had been, since I had so little time to work for myself, to wait until I had an idea for a picture. Of course, I painted some portraits of friends and did some small landscapes when I had a week or two off in the summer, but at the age of forty I realized that I needed some new ways to keep at work. I saw that the European artists kept themselves going, with any kind of subject, landscape, or portrait, or still life (in any style). This method produces more work, more 'studies'; but it also leads to the discovery of new motivations. I made up my mind to save enough money to take a few months off to paint landscape in Gloucester." (The John Sloan Exhibit, exhibition catalogue, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 1970, p. 5) This resolve marked a turning point, enabling Sloan to devote sustained attention to landscape painting and ultimately to broaden his painterly practice.
During his Massachusetts summers, Sloan prioritized painting en plein air, using the immediacy of direct observation outdoors to further refine his approach. At this time, he engaged deeply with Hardesty Maratta's color system through published writings, as well as through extensive discussions with Robert Henri (1865–1929), while drawing upon the rich variety of subjects available to him. These summers in Gloucester marked an extraordinary enhancement of Sloan's creative output. 292 paintings emerged from this period, including the present work. (John Sloan: Gloucester Days, exhibition catalogue, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 2015, p. 12) Each captures the vitality, subtle rhythms, and luminous moods of a landscape he had come to know intimately. It was a moment when experimentation and observation coalesced, producing a body of work that not only affirms Sloan's command of realism but also conveys a heightened sense of immediacy and presence. Landscape Sketch exhibits his prowess by allowing topographical fixtures in the landscape to dictate subtle movements on the canvas. Perched atop a high cliff, Sloan chose to depict three figures and a dog trotting along a dirt path. In the far distance, houses are stacked alongside one another in a similar manner to some of the rock formations in the immediate foreground. These interplays of shape and color speak to key compositional hallmarks of Sloan's Gloucester period.
Landscape Sketch offers a lens into the evolution of Sloan's en plein air painting, while Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket provides a glimpse into the stylistic evolution of a subject he had first explored seriously in the 1910s. In Gist of Art, Sloan writes, "I don't like a nude that looks too much like human flesh. I think it might better have a dry, hard look, be sculpture with color-textures like a piece of bronze." (J. Sloan, John Sloan on Drawing and Painting (Gist of Art), Mineola, New York, 1944, p. 87)
In his first serious exploration of the nude on canvas dating from the 1910s, Sloan's painterly handling of the subject, coupled with a soft palette, produced a softly modeled, comparatively restrained figure. Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket illustrates the evolution in the artist's style as it is a "linear, tightly controlled painting...Sloan twisted and turned the figure in order to obtain a more dynamic organization of space." (G. Holcomb III, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of John Sloan, 1900-1913, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 1972, p. 56) The model's dynamic pose is further contrasted through the horizontal striped blanket she sits atop. During the late 1920s, Sloan also incorporated lines and cross-hatching into his figuration, which is also evident in the present work.
Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work speaks to the evolution of John Sloan's artistic exploration. The former documents his search for new ways of sustaining his artistic practice, while the latter shows a deviation from the artist's earlier conceptualization of the nude. It is fitting then that this work was once in the collection of Ruth Martin, a friend and former sitter of John Sloan who at one point amassed the largest collection of the artist's works in private hands. Even though the two sides are separated by more than a decade, the work informs our understanding of Sloan, revealing how his style evolved and matured across distinct periods of his career.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
