Sloan, John. NUDE ON POSING STAND. Etching, 1931. M. 261. 177 x 140mm; 7" x 5 1/2", signed, titled and inscribed "100 proofs" in pencil (45 printed). In very good condition. "The technical delicacy of this plate is more likely to please others than the artist. It has good tonal qualities and perhaps 'charm.' I don't care about tonality in an etching. My interest is in the graphic force of the line." (JS, 1945) Sloan apparently considered "charm" a pejorative in reference to his prints. In 1905 Sloan did a series of ten New York subjects which he offered as a complete portfolio, and resisted breaking up for years, doing so only when it became apparent that his only hope of selling any was to offer them separately. In 1905 he showed a number of his prints to the critic Russell Sturgis, who was dismissive, opining that Sloan's work lacked charm, and that the subjects were more suitable to expression in words rather than as pictures. He allowed, however, that one, "Turning Out The Light" had "charm." In spite of this, Sloan made him a gift of a complete portfolio. Some days later Sturgis returned the portfolio as being "too costly a gift," but kept "Turning Out The Light," thereby breaking the set. (See Morse No. 134, page 143).
