Swinging in the Square

John Sloan

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Object Label

Sloan made several versions of this young girl on a swing, a scene he witnessed in 1906: “Walked down to the East Side this afternoon, enjoyed watching the girls swinging in the Square [Tompkins Square], Avenue A and 8th Street East. A fat man watching seated on a bench.” Sloan, who never had children of his own, was a strong advocate of women’s rights and felt that a woman’s individuality and intelligence was too often constrained by her roles of wife and mother. About this print, he explained, “I have always had enthusiastic interest in unspoiled girlhood. . . . Growth toward real womanhood is often checked at about this age.”

Caption

John Sloan American, 1871–1951. Swinging in the Square, 1912. Etching on cream-colored, medium weight, slightly textured laid paper, Sheet: 8 7/16 x 11 7/16 in. (21.4 x 29.1 cm) Image: 4 x 5 3/16 in. (10.2 x 13.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Louis E. Stern Foundation, Inc., 64.101.322. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 64.101.322_full_PS2.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Swinging in the Square

Date

1912

Medium

Etching on cream-colored, medium weight, slightly textured laid paper

Classification

Print

Dimensions

Sheet: 8 7/16 x 11 7/16 in. (21.4 x 29.1 cm) Image: 4 x 5 3/16 in. (10.2 x 13.2 cm)

Signatures

Signed, in plate, lower left corner: "1912 John Sloan"; lower right, in graphite: "John Sloan" [underlined].

Inscriptions

Inscribed, lower left, in graphite: "Swinging in the Square"; on verso, stamped "April 29, 1929".

Credit Line

Gift of The Louis E. Stern Foundation, Inc.

Accession Number

64.101.322

Rights

© artist or artist's estate

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