Shine, Washington Square BY JOHN SLOAN
WHEN JOHN SLOAN moved over to Washington Square in 1927,he had,as he expresses it,
“no good windows”: that is, his windows afforded none of that
rich peepshow life that had endowed his pen and brush with so much vitality
when he was living on Twenty-third Street. To get subject matter,
he had to go outdoors, and soon the Square became the
scene of many of his compositions.
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He did not lurk with sketching pad in hand and poised pencil,
for except when doing nudes or portraits, Sloan composes from memory.
Shine, Washington Square, is a realistic scene, but it has a certain lyric quality that
Sloan does not always allow to creep into his work. Possibly he had spring fever the day he did it.
Anyway, the effect is stunning. For those who do not know Greenwich Village,
be it said that the Washington Arch, seen in the background, was erected in honor of
Admiral Dewey early in this century, and commands the southern end of Fifth Avenue.
