The exhibition will be open for viewing prior to the lecture from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Presented by Avis Berman, an independent writer, art historian, and author of Rebels on Eighth Street: Juliana Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art; James McNeill Whistler; and Edward Hopper’s New York.

When we consider the subject of portraits of artists, our first thoughts tend to be of likenesses painted on canvas, etched on a plate, or exposed on a negative. But equally compelling in the study of artists and why they make the images they do are those portraits deduced and composed from the examination of psychological and social motivations. This sort of portrayal based on deeper emotional currents is especially revealing in the case of the American painter and printmaker, John Sloan. Sloan could not have matured into the artist he was without the catalytic interlocking relationships he sustained with two other forceful personalities—the painters Robert Henri and John Butler Yeats. The power of these artists’ intense, transformative personal and intellectual friendships—friendships that became central experiences, opened doors to new worlds, and were precious founts of support and inspiration—does much to explain many facets of Sloan’s life and work. The three men’s association also had more general consequences for American art—it was a great influence on drawings, paintings, and prints produced by a number of outstanding artists in Sloan and Henri’s orbit.

John Sloan (1871-1951), “Self-Portrait, Working” 1916. Oil on canvas. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Gift of John and Helen Farr Sloan. ©2015 Delaware Art Museum/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Individual tickets
Members $10 / nonmembers $15

Series tickets
Members $25 / nonmembers $40
     Three Moderns Paint Gloucester | July 23
     A Portrait of Friendship | August 13
     Passing Through Gloucester | October 30

To purchase tickets or for more information please call (978)283-0455 x10 or email [email protected]. Tickets can also be ordered online at Eventbrite.

Exhibition Sponsors