Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

August second is coming, and you know what that means. It’s my grandmother’s birthday!

Just kidding. I mean, it really is, but you have no reason to care. Also there’s no point in sending a card as she passed away in 2006. But, coincidentally, my grandmother had the same birthday as John Sloan, and on a local history level, that’s a whole new thing.

John Sloan was a famous American artist. He was born in Lock Haven on August 2, 1871. His family’s house still stands very near the corner of Grove and Church Streets; there’s a small plaque by the door memorializing the place. Later in life, he claimed to have been born on West Church Street because he found a house he liked better. This makes me the only tour guide who can show you two birthplaces from the same artist.

Sloan’s family moved out of Lock Haven when he was about seven. He developed a talent for art, and grew up to become a famous, important artist, one of the founding members of what came to be called the Ashcan School of Art. (It is not important that you know what that means.)

One of John Sloan’s most famous works is called “The Wake of the Ferry.” It’s a painting depicting a man on a ferry, standing and looking backward at the water and the boats following him. I could go on and on about the burshstrokes, symbolism, and meaning, except I won’t, because I would fall asleep while writing this. If you want to know all that, there’s always Google.

In 1949, Sloan was asked to provide a work of his art—A plate, to make a special print of one of his works. This was as some sort of sale or fundraiser to the Arts Student League. A New York Art Gallery owner, Charles Kraushaar, strongly advised Sloan not to use an already-existing plate, but to create a new one specifically for this use. Sloan decided to take that advice, and told the group he’d be making a brand-new plate.

The secretary of the group suggested that Sloan make a lithograph from “The Wake of the Ferry.” Sloan was actually insulted by this—He was willing to participate in this thing up to a point, but he wasn’t going to use one of his most famous works for a small fundraiser. Instead of storming off in anger, though, he hatched a clever plan.

Sloan made a brand-new lithograph, all right, and he called it “The Wake On The Ferry.” It was similar to the original one; the ferry itself was nearly identical. But it contained a huge difference.

The lithograph depicted a drunken Irish wake that just happened to be held on that same ferry.

The artwork shows people drinking, dancing, and comforting one another at an Irish wake, after a funeral. One guy seems to be sipping from a flask, and a couple of people have already collapsed from too much alcohol.

It’s brilliant in its humor. When the organization said that they’d been expecting a lithograph of “The Wake of the Ferry,” Sloan told them, no, no, this is a wake ON a ferry. Big difference.

And that’s how John Sloan, famous artist born in Lock Haven, pulled one over on the Arts Student League and got a little personal satisfaction in the bargain.

Sloan died in 1951. His ashes are scattered at the top of Highland Cemetery, on the Sloan family plot. Maybe I’ll go up there and think about the guy, who pulled this gag, which was itself a work of art. Happy birthday, John Sloan. Oh, and you, too, Grandmom.