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Lot Essay
John Sloan "spent 32 summers in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 1918 to 1950. Like many other early 20th-century painters, Sloan was attracted to the West for its subject matter...Sloan's long time mentor and close personal friend, Robert Henri, spent a great deal of time in Santa Fe. It was Henri's praise for New Mexico--he said it was the finest place in the world to paint--that eventually persuaded Sloan to go West." (T. Folk, “The Western Paintings of John Sloan,” Art and Antiques, vol. 5, March-April 1982, p. 100) After his first drive out to New Mexico with fellow artist Randall Davey and their wives in the summer of 1918, Sloan fell in love with the land and eventually purchased an old adobe house on Garcia Street, designing a studio with an observation platform in the backyard.
As seen in Sloan's Corpus Christi Procession, "many of his Santa Fe paintings are reminiscent of his urban scenes in both composition and treatment of subject matter. In some cases it even seems as if his New York characters have been transported to Santa Fe." (“The Western Paintings of John Sloan,” p. 101) Indeed, Van Wyck Brooks writes, "He delighted in the old adobe houses, the crooked streets, the churches, the tall poplars, the cathedral in the brilliant sunshine, though he noted that strong sunlight was neutralizing and that in New Mexico light the streets of the city were curiously grey. The plaza had some of the appeal for him that Madison Square Garden had had in New York and he painted scenes of it at noon and in the evening with the promenade concert and young people strolling about or sitting on benches." (John Sloan: A Painter's Life, New York, 1955, p. 158)
In the present work, Sloan not only captures the vivid colors of the communal spaces and crowds of the Southwest, but also the unique assimilation of various cultures; the ceremonies of the Catholic Church on Corpus Christi Day are seen in the context of the Native American traditions of the town as well as American patriotism, evidenced by the proudly waving flags along the processional route. In addition to this juxtaposition of customs, Sloan also carefully positions the bustling street scene amidst untouched rolling hills along the horizon and a bright blue expanse of sky. As a result of these compositional and thematic contrasts, in Corpus Christi Procession Sloan celebrates not only the people of Santa Fe but also the natural aspects of the West which drew him there.
As seen in Sloan's Corpus Christi Procession, "many of his Santa Fe paintings are reminiscent of his urban scenes in both composition and treatment of subject matter. In some cases it even seems as if his New York characters have been transported to Santa Fe." (“The Western Paintings of John Sloan,” p. 101) Indeed, Van Wyck Brooks writes, "He delighted in the old adobe houses, the crooked streets, the churches, the tall poplars, the cathedral in the brilliant sunshine, though he noted that strong sunlight was neutralizing and that in New Mexico light the streets of the city were curiously grey. The plaza had some of the appeal for him that Madison Square Garden had had in New York and he painted scenes of it at noon and in the evening with the promenade concert and young people strolling about or sitting on benches." (John Sloan: A Painter's Life, New York, 1955, p. 158)
In the present work, Sloan not only captures the vivid colors of the communal spaces and crowds of the Southwest, but also the unique assimilation of various cultures; the ceremonies of the Catholic Church on Corpus Christi Day are seen in the context of the Native American traditions of the town as well as American patriotism, evidenced by the proudly waving flags along the processional route. In addition to this juxtaposition of customs, Sloan also carefully positions the bustling street scene amidst untouched rolling hills along the horizon and a bright blue expanse of sky. As a result of these compositional and thematic contrasts, in Corpus Christi Procession Sloan celebrates not only the people of Santa Fe but also the natural aspects of the West which drew him there.