The Theater

1909

The Theater , 1909. John Sloan (American, 1871–1951). Color monotype; platemark: 19.1 x 22.8 cm (7 1/2 x 9 in.); sheet: 27.3 x 27 cm (10 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph L. Wilson in memory of Anna Elizabeth Wilson 1961.162 © Delaware Art Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York The opera houses, symphony halls, and theaters constructed in the first quarter of the 1900s in America’s cities accommodated increasingly large audiences and constituted a new realm of “high” culture. This print records John Sloan’s first experience with opera: likely that of Tannhäuser or Louise, both of which he saw with his wife, Dolly, in February 1909. To make this monotype—a unique image printed from a design made on a printing plate—Sloan manipulated and wiped black and green ink to evoke the effects of artificial lighting on a darkened interior, focusing more attention on the crowd than on the performance itself. To make this monotype, John Sloan covered a printing plate with ink and wiped it away in areas to create an image, a technique called "dark-field manner."