The Little Bride. Etching. 134x179 mm; 5 1/4x7 inches, full margins. Edition of 85 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed, titled and inscribed "100 proofs" in pencil, lower margin. From New York City Life. 1906.
A very good impression with strong contrasts.
In his diary, Sloan commented, "Back in 1906 there was a considerable French population north of 23rd Street, and the church near Proctor's Theatre [141 West 23rd Street] was known as the French Church. The stone steps down which these newlyweds are escaping have since been removed. I hope the couple lived happy ever after." Morse 138.
The WPA gave opportunities and financial help to many artists who were struggling during the Depression. Sloan, already an established artist and teacher at the Art Students League (who taught many artists who particapted in the WPA programs), did not fit that profile, but he did participate in the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, which hired well-known artists for its projects. He painted the mural The Arrival of the First Mail in Bronxville in 1846 for the post office in Bronxville, New York. He also created two paintings for the WPA, one The Wigwam, Old Tammany Hall, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the other Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue, originally hung the office of U.S. Senator Royal Copeland and now is exhibited at the Detroit Insitute of Arts.
