Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
The Rathskeller
by John Sloan
About the Artwork
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.”
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: "John / Sloan [JS in monogram]"
Provenance
(C. W. Kraushaar Galleries)
Exhibition history
In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958). 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). 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). 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). 1900: Art at the Crossroads. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (May 18-September 10, 2000).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- John Sloan (American, 1871–1951)
- Date
- 1901
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 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.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the Hanna Fund
- Accession no.
- 1946.164
More by John Sloan in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009189
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