Rainy Night

c. 1910

Rainy Night, c. 1910. John Sloan (American, 1871–1951). Monotype; platemark: 15 x 10.9 cm (5 7/8 x 4 5/16 in.); sheet: 21.5 x 14.6 cm (8 7/16 x 5 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Williams 1957.213 © Delaware Art Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York For John Sloan, the city streets of New York City were like a continuous performance, full of impromptu sights and sounds. Here, he captured the sensory experience of a slick sidewalk on a rainy night as two women walk arm and arm with brownstones to their left. Sloan’s diary records the night that this work may have been made, in April 1907, when, as he wrote, his teacher and friend Robert Henri “came to dinner in the evening and we had a little monotype fun with the etching press.” Sloan’s manipulation of the burgundy ink conveys a translucent, reflective effect. This image is a monotype, which is a unique image made from a printing plate.