Sloan, John. GIRLS SLIDING. Morse 171. Etching, 1915. 4 1/4 x 6 inches; 109 x 151 mm. Signed in pencil. A proof of the third state, or possibly an intermediate state between the third and fourth (published) states. Morse describes the mouth of the central figure as "smiling but nearly closed" in the third state, but in this proof her mouth is open as in the final state. However, the shading lines added to the central and right hand figures in the fourth state are absent from this proof. As a proof from a state prior to publication, this would likely have been printed by Sloan, and is aside from the published edition of the fourth state which totalled 105 impressions (Sloan almost invariably marked his prints "100 proofs," but in most cases fewer were printed. Sloan never printed the edition in its entirety at once, but would print, or have printed, a supply periodically. As a result, in a few cases, if a print was popular, the number printed might exceed 100, as in the case of the published edition of this print. A rare proof. In very good condition, but with a small loss in the upper right corner of the sheet. Sloan's 1945 comment on this print: "Healthy happy girls putting on a floor show for appeciative bums in Washington Square. There are some battles in these things but they are pretty well eliminated."
