John Sloan, major American artist identified with the "Ashcan School," and Capt. Solomon Jacobs, schooner fisherman and ocean adventurer, were both in Gloucester, Massachusetts from 1914 until 1918. John Sloan, during five consecutive extended summers in Gloucester, was reinventing himself as an artist following the 1913 Armory Show, and was painting many of his finest works. Capt. Jacobs was winding down a colorful career of voyaging and enterprise, but was not yet ready to go quietly. Then America entered World War I, and the Gloucester fleet was decimated by U-boat attacks. On Opposite Tacks explores the contrasts and parallels between the two men that shaped their differing responses to life and war.