Washington Arch
Artist
John Sloan
(American, 1871-1951)
Date1923
MediumEtching on paper
DimensionsSight: 8 13/16 x 5 3/8 in. (22.4 x 13.7 cm)
Credit LineDistribution from The Harriet M. and George W. Platzman Trust
Collections
Object number2008.208
Status
Not on viewMcKim, Mead & White’s Memorial Arch (1892) was originally erected in wood for the 1889 centennial celebration of George Washington’s inauguration. Besides living and working near the arch, Sloan had a vivid memory connected with it. On the evening of January 23, 1917, Sloan and a few bohemian friends—including Marcel Duchamp—decorated the marble arch with candles and climbed to its summit for a midnight picnic, in the course of which they proclaimed the secession of Greenwich Village from the United States, thenceforth to be known as the Free and Independent Republic of Washington Square. (After that, the door to the arch’s stairway was kept locked to prevent further unauthorized ascents.) In this print, Sloan shows the more everyday play that took place in the park, demonstrating his mastery of “plate tone” to suggest a gray day and to contrast the children’s shadows with the white of the fresh snow.
