The Lafayette

John Sloan

1927 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

A favorite haunt for Sloan and his friends was the Hotel Lafayette, located at Ninth Street and University Place in New York’s Greenwich Village. Distinguished architecturally by its two sets of entrance stairs covered by awnings, the Lafayette was also known for its fine food and wines. Although the hotel possessed pleasant associations for Sloan, the year he painted this work was one of financial hardship. To help him and his wife cover their debts, Juliana Force—the private secretary and assistant of the heiress Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney—took up a collection among Sloan’s friends to purchase "The Lafayette" from him, then donated it to the Metropolitan.

Artist

John Sloan

Date

1927

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of The Friends of John Sloan, 1928