Turning Out the Light 1905

John Sloan made this etching, Turning Out the Light, with ink on paper, and it’s all about the gesture, the process, the little marks that build up to make the scene. The cross-hatching feels frenetic, anxious even. It’s not about smooth lines, it’s about the scratchy energy of mark-making. Look at how Sloan builds up the shadows with these tiny, insistent lines. It’s like he’s not just showing us the scene, but also the act of drawing itself. You can almost feel his hand moving across the plate. See how the light falls on her arm, the way he suggests the roundness of her form with those delicate strokes? There's a real intimacy to this piece, and like the work of Edgar Degas, Sloan focuses on the everyday. It feels like we’re peeking into a private moment. It’s less about perfection and more about capturing a fleeting feeling, a mood, a sense of a particular time and place. And to me, that’s what art should be all about.