The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 15, 2025

The Rathskeller

1901

John Sloan

(American, 1871–1951)
America, early 20th Century
oil on canvas
Framed: 110.6 x 89.2 x 7 cm (43 9/16 x 35 1/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 90.5 x 69 cm (35 5/8 x 27 3/16 in.)
Gift of the Hanna Fund 1946.164
Location: 208 American Gilded Age and Realism

Did You Know?

Sloan worked as an illustrator for various newspapers before becoming a professional painter and printmaker.

Description

Economic differences infuse Sloan’s scene of patrons at a Philadelphia bar. Here, a working-class woman sharing a beer with a companion captures the attention of a lone man who has ordered the more costly champagne. One contemporary critic characterized this wealthier man as “a spider watching for the fly.”
  • (C. W. Kraushaar Galleries)
  • “A Check List. American Paintings and Water Colors of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Early Twentieth Centuries in the Cleveland Museum of Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 1 (January 1973): 21–35. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 33, no. 163 www.jstor.org
  • 1900: Art at the Crossroads. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (May 18-September 10, 2000).
    London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1900: Art at the Crossroads (16 January-3 April 2000); traveled to New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (18 May-10 September 2000); cat. no. 147, illus. p. 216.
    New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, John Soan: Spectator of Life (26 April-18 June 1988); traveled to Wilmington, DE, Delaware Museum of Art (15 July-4 September 1988); to Columbus, Columbus Museum of Art (17 September-6 November 1988); to Fort Worth, TX, Amon Carter Museum (19 November-31 December 1988); cat. no. 5, illus. p. 41.
    John Sloan, 1871 - 1951. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (September 18-October 31, 1971); Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA (November 20, 1971-January 16, 1972); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (February 15-April 2, 1972); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (May 4-June 18, 1972).
    Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, John Sloan 1871-1951 (18 September-31 October 1971); traveled to Athens, GA, Georgia Museum of Art (20 November 1971-16 January 1972); to San Francisco, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum (15 February-2 April 1972); to St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis (4 May-18 June 1972); to Columbus, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (13 July-13 August 1972); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (6 September-22 October 1972); cat. no. 22, illus. p. 68.
    Sent from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts on a good-will tour through the U. S. Information Agency, Washington, D.C.:
    Triumph of Realism: An Exhibition of European and American Realist Paintings 1850-1910. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (December 12, 1967-January 14, 1968); Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (February 16-March 31, 1968).
    Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum The Triumph of Realism (3 October-19 November 1967); traveled to Richmond, VA, Museum of Fine Arts, (11 December 1967-14 January 1968); to San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, (17 February-31 March 1968), pp. 84-85, 177, illus. cat. no. 96, p. 177.
    Brunswisck, ME, Bowdoin College Museum of Fine Arts (20 January-28 February 1962); cat. no. 1, illus. p. 33.
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Oil Paintings by John Sloan (19 November-23 December 1961), cat. no. 35.
    The Life and Times of John Slaon. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE (organizer) (September 22-October 29, 1961); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Museum of American Art, Philadelphia, PA (November 17-December 23, 1961); Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME (January 20-February 28, 1962).
    Wilmington, Delaware, The Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, The Life and Times of John Sloan (22 September-29 October 1961); traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (17 November-23 December 1961); cat. no. 6, not illus.
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
    Stockholm, Swedish Royal Academy of the Free Arts, (4 -27 November 1955)
    Ghent, The Ghent Museum (3 September-2 October 1955), cat. no. 84.
    Innsbruck, Ferdinandeum Museum, (16 July-20 August 1955), cat. no. 78.
    Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, l'Esposizione per il 150 Anniversario della Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts di Filadelfia (June 1955), pp. 44-45. Cat. no. 78, not illus.
    Madrid, Sala de la Direccion General de Belles Artes, National Library, Exposicion del 150 Aniversario de la Academie de Belles Artes de Pennsilvania (21 April-8 May 1955), cat. no. 73, illus. p. 43.
    Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition (15 January-13 March 1955), pp. 130-133, cat. no. 221, illus. p. 131.
    New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, John Sloan 1871-1951 (10 January-2 March 1952); traveled to Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery, (15 March-20 April 1952); to Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art (4 May-8 June 1952); illus. cat. no. 3.
    Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Life in Philadelphia (20 June-13 September 1940), cat. no. 60, illus., catalogue found in Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin (May, 1940)
    New York, Wanamaker Galleries, John Sloan: Paintings, Etchings, and Drawings (4 November-? December 1939); traveled to, Philadelphia, Wanamaker Galleries (8-29 January 1940), no. 22.
    New York, C. W. Kraushaar Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings by John Sloan (11-30 April 1921), no. 4.
    New York, New York School of Art, title not known, (17-31 December 1907), see Elzea's publication p. 447.
    Portland, Or, Lewis and Clark Centennial Exhibition (1905), no. 203.
    Chicago, Art Insitute of Chicago, 17th Annual Exhibition of American Painting & Sculpture (20 October-27 November 1904); no. 374; listed p. 59.
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Third Annual Sketch Exhibition of the Fellowship fo the Academy (31 March-19 April 1902), no. 165.
    Philadelphia, Philadelphia Art Club, title not known (-15 December 1901); see Elzea's publication p. 445.
  • {{cite web|title=The Rathskeller|url=false|author=John Sloan|year=1901|access-date=15 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.164