Few artists painted the moods, rhythms, and rituals of the seasons like John Sloan, who moved to New York from Philadelphia in 1904 and spent the early 20th century in Greenwich Village—living and working for almost a decade at 88 Washington Place.
His windows facing Lower Sixth Avenue “gave Sloan a view of street life from an elevated vantage point, which he frequently incorporated into his paintings,” states the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston.
A real-life wagon loaded with vibrant flowers was the inspiration for his 1924 painting “Flowers of Spring,” which belongs to the MFA.
As Sloan (at left in a self-portrait from 1890) himself recalled in his book Gist of Art:
“This picture has, in a very direct, simple way, handed on the thrill that comes to everyone on a wet spring morning from the first sight of the flower huckster’s wagon. The brilliant notes of the plants surrounded on all sides by wet, city grays.”
Sloan’s beloved wife, Dolly, is the woman on the left with the umbrella.
[Hat Tip: Kathy van Vorhees]
Tags: John and Dolly Sloan, John Sloan, John Sloan Greenwich Village, John Sloan New York City, John Sloan paintings NYC, New York in the 1920s, spring in New York City
March 27, 2017 at 7:00 am |
this is lovely and yes, the flowers and their return in the spring, must have been a joy to all
March 27, 2017 at 7:33 pm |
This painting so touched me when I first viewed it years ago that I purchased a poster which hung on my wall for that long and always made me think of “those days” during which I wished I had lived.
July 12, 2017 at 11:37 pm |
, barbara contct your cousin Laurie please
July 14, 2017 at 5:12 pm |
Laurie, I’ve sent an e-mail to your last known e-mail…look forward.
July 24, 2017 at 6:24 am |
[…] often found subjects for his work near Washington Square, or Union or Madison […]
April 16, 2018 at 6:00 am |
[…] John Sloan’s Six O’Clock, Winter gives us the scene under the Third Avenue El in 1912. (Not the Sixth Avenue El, the subject of some of his other paintings.) […]
April 17, 2018 at 10:12 am |
[…] John Sloan’s Six O’Clock, Winter gives us the scene under the Third Avenue El in 1912. (Not the Sixth Avenue El, the subject of some of his other paintings.) […]
April 17, 2018 at 3:17 pm |
[…] John Sloan’s Six O’Clock, Winter gives us the scene under the Third Avenue El in 1912. (Not the Sixth Avenue El, the subject of some of his other paintings.) […]
April 22, 2018 at 5:58 pm |
[…] Flowers of Spring by John Sloan […]
April 18, 2022 at 5:38 am |
[…] decades later, Sloan painted another scene of spring flowers and a wet sidewalk that is equally […]