Greenwich Village resident and Ashcan School artist John Sloan depicted many scenes of early 20th century New York City life, and he seemed to have a special fondness for the old elevated trains that once criss-crossed the city’s avenues.
He painted Jefferson Market in 1917, with the Sixth Avenue El in the foreground. The el is now gone and high-rises dot Sixth Avenue, but Jefferson Market itself looks largely the same today.
Sixth Avenue Elevated at Third Street is from 1928. There’s Jefferson Market again, in the distance.
The El ran from 59th Street and Sixth Avenue, abruptly snaked down West Third Street to West Broadway, then made its way to Rector Street. It was torn down in the 1930s, its fate referenced in an e.e. cummings poem.
Tags: Ashcan School, Jefferson market, John Sloan, sixth avenue el
Ephemeral New York 
November 12, 2008 at 6:51 pm |
Hi Eph-
According to the NY Songlines website, Sloan lived on W 23 Street, a block west of the Chelsea Hotel. I’ve seen on the web many of his drawings and paintings taken from this vantage point. One very interesting drawing shows people relaxing on the roof (in a pre-AC world, a popular thing to do on hot summer nights). In the distance you can make out the church on W 30 and the gigantic old Penn Station.
I’ve read that he also had paintings of street scenes around the Chelsea Hotel but I haven’t found these.
October 21, 2009 at 12:44 am |
Oops, I meant a block EAST.
December 1, 2008 at 5:04 am |
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