Nude Sketches 1917

John Sloan created these ‘Nude Sketches’ using etching, and what looks like pure unadulterated line, sometime in the early 20th century. I love how the different figures seem to emerge from the white space of the paper, their forms described with a flurry of marks. It’s almost as if Sloan is trying to capture them in a fleeting moment, as though they might vanish if he lingers too long. You can feel him thinking, watching, and improvising. I imagine Sloan, back then, trying to convey a sense of weight, volume, and light, all with just the simple stroke of a needle. And each of those strokes— the short, quick hatches that define the shadows, or the longer, more flowing lines that trace the curves of the body—are a kind of thought, a decision made in the moment. It’s like he’s building up the image layer by layer, figuring it out as he goes along. I find it really moving; it shows how art-making can be a way of thinking through looking.