Nude with Cigarette 1931

Editor: Here we have John Sloan's etching, "Nude with Cigarette," housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It's striking how the starkness of the nude figure contrasts with the soft, textured background. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It's that very contrast that hooks me! There's a raw vulnerability, a captured moment of introspection. The cigarette, almost an afterthought, hints at a narrative—a life lived, perhaps a story untold. It feels like a quiet rebellion against the idealized nudes of the past, don't you think? Editor: It does, but the cigarette seems like more than just a detail, like it’s a commentary on modern life. Curator: Exactly! Sloan was an Ashcan School artist, documenting everyday life. That cigarette grounds the nude, makes her real. It's not just a study of form, but of a person in their world. I think that is very interesting. Editor: I see it now, it is like the cigarette makes this artwork so modern and yet so simple. Curator: Indeed, art can be a smoke screen for the soul!