Arch Conspirators
John Sloan (1871-1951), Arch Conspirators, etching, 1917. Morse 183, second state (of 2). Edition 100 (and in this rare instance, that’s how many impressions of the edition were printed). Signed, titled and annotated 100 proofs in pencil. [Signed and dated in the plate, lower left]. In excellent condition. Image size 4 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches (108 x 149 mm); sheet size 8 1/8 x 10 7/8 inches (206 x 276 mm).
A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 5/8 to 2 5/8 inches); Printed by Ernest Roth.
“A mid-winter party on the roof of Washington Square Arch. Among those present: Marcel Duchamp, Charles Ellis (actor), John Sloan, and Gertrude Drick (poet), instigator of the affair. A document was drawn up to establish the secession of Greenwich Village from the United States…. The door of the Arch stairway has since been kept locked.” Another article about the incident, “Arch Conspirators” by Margaret Christie (New York Tribune, Dec. 30, 1923), tells essentially the same story. It quotes Sloan at length in the author’s words and reproduces the 1st state of this etching. –Morse, p. 209
$3000