Teleduction produces third program in series on American artists: Helen Farr Sloan

Quietly remarkable, Helen Farr Sloan is an accomplished artist, teacher and historian. She is a major advocate for arts constituencies in Delaware and around the country and the widow of John Sloan, one of the premier American artists of the 20th century. Helen is a native New Yorker who enrolled in the Art Students League of New York in the late 1920's. There, she first met John Sloan, with whom she studied drawing while transcribing his principles and philosophy in the margins of her sketches. These studio notes would later be formalized and published as "The Gist of Art".

After two short years of study, Helen's teacher would release her from the confines of the classroom to paint in the larger, grander "studio" of parks and subways of 1930's New York City. For the next twenty years, in Manhattan, in the New England countryside, and in the deserts of Santa Fe, Helen created a diverse array of colorful canvases that largely chronicled scenes of American life through the post- war period.

Helen also continued to teach art until she married John Sloan, 41 years her senior, in 1944. Following his death in 1951, she resumed teaching before moving to Delaware in 1960. Settling in Wilmington, Helen soon became a beloved member of the Studio Group, a singular organization of women artists. Now retired and approaching 90 years of age, this intelligent, good-humored and generous artist continues to devote her energy and resources to foster the preservation and study of 20th century American art.

This program is part of the Artists' Biographies series, Through the Eyes of the Artist. Click here to learn more about the entire series.