zoom

cavetocanvas:

John Sloan, The Rathskeller, 1901

From the Cleveland Museum of Art:

This scene takes place in Soula’s Rathskeller, located in the Betz Building in Philadelphia (the word “rathskeller,” a basement restaurant-bar, derives from the German tradition of having a beer-serving restaurant in the cellar of the town hall, or rathaus.) John Sloan later said of this painting, “to us today, the lady’s costume is quaint, as are the surroundings. But the divided attention noticeable in the young lady with a beer escort whose lonely neighbor is buying champagne, is a symptom that may be observed today.” Indeed the relationships among the three figures invite speculation. One contemporary critic implied a sinister connection, describing the man on the left as “a spider watching for the fly that is, in popular parlance, born every minute.”