Anshutz on Anatomy 1912

John Sloan made this etching, titled 'Anshutz on Anatomy,' sometime around 1905. The cross hatching creates a kind of shimmering atmosphere in this scene of a life drawing class. What I love about prints is how the image is built up through the accumulation of tiny, deliberate marks. Look at the way Sloan uses this technique to define the figures in the audience. Each face is just a few lines, but together they create a sense of depth and individual character. You can almost feel the collective energy of the room. The relationship between the skeleton, the model, and the teacher, all these layers of looking and learning, reminds me of Picasso's many images of the artist and model. It captures the act of art-making as an ongoing conversation between observation, representation, and interpretation. It's a reminder that art is never finished, just continued.