The Barber Shop
John Sloan
American Art
This print reveals Sloan’s typically humorous observations of daily city life. Note the small details: the sign above the counter reads “Turpitude the Great Hair Raiser”; the waiting customer is reading Puck, an illustrated humor magazine of the day; and on the pile beside him is The Masses, of which Sloan was the art editor. The print was Sloan’s first experiment with aquatint, a technique that creates tonal effects by using resin dust to make small pits on the surface of the metal printing plate.
MEDIUM
Etching, aquatint and drypoint on wove paper
DATES
1915
DIMENSIONS
Sheet: 12 1/2 x 18 15/16 in. (31.8 x 48.1 cm)
Image: 9 3/4 x 11 7/8 in. (24.8 x 30.2 cm)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower right, in plate: "John Sloan '15"; lower right, in graphite: "John Sloan" ["Sloan" underlined].
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed, lower left corner, in graphite: "47 C3421"; lower left: "100 proofs"; lower center, in graphite: "The Barber Shop".
ACCESSION NUMBER
41.437
CREDIT LINE
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
STATE
100 proofs
EDITION
Edition: 100
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