The Hanging Committee, N.A.D.

Sloan and his fellow artists had a difficult relationship with the National Academy of Design, the central institution of New York's conservative art establishment. Inclusion in the Academy's annual juried exhibitions was essential for an artist's success at this time. Committees of the Academy's senior members selected works for each exhibition, then arranged them on the gallery walls. The best location for display would be at eye level, but many works by younger artists were relegated to the upper regions, known as the "skies." In Sloan's lampoon of this process, two Academy members are hanging Sloan's painting Chinese Restaurant. Their dialogue reads: "Can't see it now can you?" "Oh no!" "Good."