Spring Rain
Sloan, John, American painter, printmaker 1871-1951
1912
oil on canvas
Gift of John Sloan Memorial Foundation, 1986

Memory tells me that my motive was to record this glimpse of an ankle (an ankle counted in those days) and the fresh green and the spring rain. I think, however, that what endures is the special chord of color to which I set my palette.

John Sloan, Gist of Art. 1939
Spring Rain reveals several important aspects of Sloan's work as an artist. The painting's formal qualities and subject indicate a particular set of ideas and influences which affected Sloan's work during the first two decades of the 20th century.
Executed in 1912, the painting's tonal palette testifies to two of Sloan's artistic sources. The first is the example provided by Sloan's mentors: Robert Henri, his self-described 'father in art' and Thomas Anshutz, one of his teachers at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The painting's other important color attribute relates to Sloan's use of Hardesty C. Maratta's color system. Maratta created a line of premixed colors which allowed artists to work from a fixed palette. His system was based on the notion of color triads that Sloan explained as follows:

'The twelve major color divisions of the triangle, yellow, yellow-green, green, etc., may be compared to the twelve half-tones of the musical scale. Chords of color-notes based on well-established numerical harmonies may be used for the dominant colors of a composition; Most systems of color harmony have been based on the combination of complementaries. Such combinations are static because the complementaries are opposites and equalize each other. The use of triad chords based on thirds, fifths, and sevenths, as in music, brings out the dynamics.'

For Sloan, Maratta's system created a comfortable yet disciplined environment in which to experiment and introduce a broader range of colors. For example, Spring Rain features bright, intense greens and purples which allude to the feeling the season. Following this work he employed the system to great advantage in paintings he produced during the summers from 1914 to 1918 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. One example from this period is Path through Rocks and Bushes of 1914 (shown to the left of Spring Rain).

In terms of subject matter, Spring Rain embodies the artist's self-described role as a 'spectator of life.' Sloan developed and honed keen powers of observation through his work as an illustrator and by using what he called 'the peeper instinct that all people possess.' Thus, Sloan captured and rendered details which are at once subtle and powerful. His success in capturing the tenor of city life led to his enormous reputation as a painter of city subjects. That reputation was advanced by Sloan's leadership in the following landmark exhibitions: The Eight at Macbeth Galleries (1908), Independent Artists (1910), and the Armory Show (1913).

Spring Rain was purchased by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1918 and passed into the collection of Whitney Museum of American Art when it was formed. Mrs. Whitney's esteem for Sloan's work is evident in the fact that Sloan was among the first artists to receive a solo show at the Whitney Studio.