Sloan was described as an "early twentieth-century realist painter who embraced the principles of Socialism and placed his artistic talents at the service of those beliefs." Yet whenever Sloan was asked about the social context of his paintings or about his fervent Socialism, he said that his paintings were made with "sympathy, but no social consciousness ... I was never interested in putting propaganda into my paintings, so it annoys me when art historians try to interpret my city life pictures as 'socially conscious.' I saw the everyday life of the people, and on the whole I picked out bits of joy in human life for my subject matter."