Fifth Avenue Critics

John Sloan

1905

An etching by John Sloan that captures a fleeting moment of social theatre on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, where well-dressed carriage passengers and drivers pose like actors in a public performance.

A dense, energetic web of dark lines contrasts glossy horses and a top‑hatted driver with the pale, voluminous dresses of reclining women, producing a cramped, bustling snapshot that feels both intimate and theatrical.

Executed in 1905, the print exemplifies the Ashcan School’s democratic eye—Sloan used etching to elevate ordinary urban moments and helped steer American art toward candid, observational realism.

Palette

Art Terms

Etching Print Cityscape Figurative Social Realism Urbanization

Exhibitions

Romantic Painting in America

1943

American Art Portfolio

1936

Americans 1943: Realists and Magic-Realists

1943

Then and Now

1952