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Stealing the Wash

John Sloan American
1921
Not on view
The subject was inspired by a scene Sloan witnessed from his studio one day. He writes in his diary that he watched as a man picked off clothes from a laundry line, then hid behind a chimney to try on the socks. He wrapped the rest of the clothes in a bundle and hurried off down the fire escape, see: Morse 1969, p. 229.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Stealing the Wash
  • Artist: John Sloan (American, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania 1871–1951 Hanover, New Hampshire)
  • Date: 1921
  • Medium: Etching
  • Dimensions: Plate: 3 3/4 x 2 5/16 in. (9.5 x 5.9 cm)
    Sheet: 7 13/16 × 5 1/8 in. (19.9 × 13 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, 1926
  • Object Number: 26.30.71
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Reading in the Subway, John Sloan  American, Etching
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Necklace, Meta Overbeck  American, Gold, emeralds, Montana sapphires, topazes, enamel, American
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Louis C. Tiffany
Manufacturer Tiffany & Co.
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The Genius of Castiglione, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto)  Italian, Etching
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