Nude on Stairs 1930

Editor: Here we have John Sloan's 1930 etching, *Nude on Stairs.* There's a definite domestic feeling to this scene – it feels very intimate. How would you interpret the compositional elements here? Curator: The network of hatching and cross-hatching in the etching produces a range of tonal values that coalesce to create depth and form. Note the spatial arrangement of the figure in relation to the staircase; its spiraling form, defined by strong verticals and horizontals, visually encloses the figure. Does this reinforce the feeling of domestic intimacy that you described? Editor: I think so. There’s almost a sense of enclosure or perhaps even being trapped in a domestic setting. The nude form is unexpected in this mundane, interior space. Curator: Indeed. The figure's nudity introduces a counterpoint to the mundane. The tension lies in the contrasting treatment of the figure and the setting. Note that while the background contains hard geometric forms, the figure seems fluid and softly defined, created from tonal modelling and suggestive outlines. Is there any reading that we can extrapolate from the relationship between these formal devices? Editor: It's interesting... the staircase confines her physically, but her intellectual escape, represented by the book, provides a means of departure, and I now see that this internal escape is underlined by the soft form. The domestic reality confines and contrasts with the free-flowing escape offered by the form. Curator: Precisely. And in paying attention to how these formal decisions influence the meaning of the piece, one gains access to richer interpretation of Sloan's aesthetic vision. Editor: I can definitely appreciate Sloan’s manipulation of the etching medium to evoke the emotional landscape.