John S. SARGENT (1856-1925)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : US painting < 1940 Alps
Chronology : 1878 1882 1905
See also : US painting < 1940 Alps
Chronology : 1878 1882 1905
Intro
John Singer Sargent is the most European of US artists. His mother suffered a breakdown after the death of an infant daughter and his father abandoned for this reason his job as a surgeon in Philadelphia. The couple spent their time traveling throughout Europe and John was born by chance in Florence, the capital of the arts.
1878 Capri
1
Rosina
2001 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's
The Mediterranean island of Capri is famous for its beautiful coastline just outside the Bay of Naples, blue-green water, architecture, rich culture and the beauty of its people.
Born 22 years earlier in Florence during one of the regular trips of his expatriate parents, the US artist John Singer Sargent spent the summer 1878 in Capri. He was welcomed to work in the local studio of Frank Hyde and took as a model a beautiful girl of Greek ancestry aged 17 named Rosina Ferrara.
Girl on a rooftop, oil on canvas 50 x 64 cm, features Rosina dancing a tarantella. She turns her back to the viewer and to a seated young man providing the music. The bold composition offers a vertiginous view of the white wall, arguably of the Marina Hotel where Sargent was residing, and a dynamic view of the girl against the sky in an unbalanced position of her solitary jig.
It was sold for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's on May 24, 2001, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Born 22 years earlier in Florence during one of the regular trips of his expatriate parents, the US artist John Singer Sargent spent the summer 1878 in Capri. He was welcomed to work in the local studio of Frank Hyde and took as a model a beautiful girl of Greek ancestry aged 17 named Rosina Ferrara.
Girl on a rooftop, oil on canvas 50 x 64 cm, features Rosina dancing a tarantella. She turns her back to the viewer and to a seated young man providing the music. The bold composition offers a vertiginous view of the white wall, arguably of the Marina Hotel where Sargent was residing, and a dynamic view of the girl against the sky in an unbalanced position of her solitary jig.
It was sold for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's on May 24, 2001, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
Staircase
2016 SOLD for $ 4.1M by Sotheby's
After four years of training in Paris with Carolus-Duran, Sargent studies in Capri the diagonal of sunlight and shadow within a long and narrow stone staircase leading to a bright blue sky between two rows of typical dazzling white Mediterranean walls.
This oil on canvas 82 x 46 cm painted in the summer of 1878 was sold for $ 4.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1.8M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2016, lot 14.
This oil on canvas 82 x 46 cm painted in the summer of 1878 was sold for $ 4.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1.8M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2016, lot 14.
1880-1882 Venetian Loggia
2004 SOLD for $ 5.6M by Sotheby's
Inspired by the art of Velazquez after a visit to Spain in 1879, John Singer Sargent was increasingly looking for unprecedented subjects with special light and color effects. He desired his art to be confronted with the avant-garde French painting.
After an extended stay in Venice in the fall of 1880 and early 1881, he went back to that city in late 1882. He painted through both stays a series of images featuring local women in their working day inside a palazzo or in a street.
Venetian Loggia, oil on canvas 72 x 81 cm, stages seven women, not interacting with one another, the one in forefront with a baby on her lap. The room is lit through an arched arcade that creates an illusion of orientalism. The palace is not identified and the picture was titled from 1898 to 1960 Spanish cloister or Spanish courtyard. Spanish and Venetian subjects were indeed intertwined in Sargent's oeuvre of the period.
It was sold for $ 5.6M by Sotheby's on May 19, 2004, lot 18. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
After an extended stay in Venice in the fall of 1880 and early 1881, he went back to that city in late 1882. He painted through both stays a series of images featuring local women in their working day inside a palazzo or in a street.
Venetian Loggia, oil on canvas 72 x 81 cm, stages seven women, not interacting with one another, the one in forefront with a baby on her lap. The room is lit through an arched arcade that creates an illusion of orientalism. The palace is not identified and the picture was titled from 1898 to 1960 Spanish cloister or Spanish courtyard. Spanish and Venetian subjects were indeed intertwined in Sargent's oeuvre of the period.
It was sold for $ 5.6M by Sotheby's on May 19, 2004, lot 18. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
masterpiece
1884 Portrait de Madame X
Metropolitan Museum
John Singer Sargent was a child prodigy. The Impressionists did not however welcome him into their ranks because he was a pupil of Carolus-Duran who taught an academic classicism in Paris. John specialized in the society portrait. In 1884 he painstakingly painted the Portrait de Madame X which made a scandal by its plunging neckline. The artist was too far ahead of the couture fashion of the following century.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1885 Robert Louis Stevenson
2004 SOLD for $ 8.8M by Sotheby's
A US artist born in Italy, John S. Sargent was hailed in Paris as one of the most skilled portraitists. The risqué portrait of Madame X created a scandal in the 1884 Salon and the 28 years old artist cautiously preferred leaving for England.
Lacking of customers after that issue, Sargent made his hand on unconventional expressive portraits of friends. The Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, who had just reached fame for his Treasure Island, was a long time friend. A first portrait of Stevenson by Sargent was tried in December 1884 but destroyed.
In August 1885 Sargent visited Stevenson at home near Bournemouth. Sargent was to describe Stevenson as ‘the most intense creature he had ever met'. The second portrait shows the eccentric writer standing in excitement while his wife Fanny is seated in the corner.
Stevenson considered that Sargent had correctly captured in this unflattering portrait the odd way in which he rose and walked about while he spoke. In Stevenson's words he is 'walking about in his own dining room, in his own velveteen jacket, and twisting by the way his own mustache'.
At that time he was certainly conceiving his next best seller, the horror novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, completed in te next year.
This oil on canvas 51 x 62 cm was sold for $ 8.8M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on May 19, 2004, lot 12. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Lacking of customers after that issue, Sargent made his hand on unconventional expressive portraits of friends. The Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, who had just reached fame for his Treasure Island, was a long time friend. A first portrait of Stevenson by Sargent was tried in December 1884 but destroyed.
In August 1885 Sargent visited Stevenson at home near Bournemouth. Sargent was to describe Stevenson as ‘the most intense creature he had ever met'. The second portrait shows the eccentric writer standing in excitement while his wife Fanny is seated in the corner.
Stevenson considered that Sargent had correctly captured in this unflattering portrait the odd way in which he rose and walked about while he spoke. In Stevenson's words he is 'walking about in his own dining room, in his own velveteen jacket, and twisting by the way his own mustache'.
At that time he was certainly conceiving his next best seller, the horror novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, completed in te next year.
This oil on canvas 51 x 62 cm was sold for $ 8.8M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on May 19, 2004, lot 12. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1886 Poppies
2016 SOLD for $ 6.9M by Sotheby's
Disgusted by the scandal of the Portrait de Madame X which he considered as his best painting, Sargent traveled to England in August 1885. Shortly after his arrival, he was injured in the head while swimming in the Thames, sufficiently seriously for a friend to require him to have some convalescence in the English countryside. The accident triggered a reorientation of his art.
John had visited Giverny just before and he was encouraged by Monet to paint outdoors. He conceived an ambitious composition showing two small girls in a garden in a contrasting light of late afternoon. This painting will be completed in the following year and titled Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by reference to a nursery rhyme. It is a masterpiece of the artist and a turning point in his career.
Poppies, oil on canvas 62 x 91 cm, was painted in 1886 in England during the preparation of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. It was sold for $ 6.9M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2016, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The colors are vibrant but the modernism lies in the theme and composition of this humble piece of grass slope, anticipating by four years the interest of Van Gogh in Auvers for wild flowers. Red poppies and other flowers are the only subject of this magnificent painting without further forefront and whose background is completely darkened in the excuse of the nightfall.
John had visited Giverny just before and he was encouraged by Monet to paint outdoors. He conceived an ambitious composition showing two small girls in a garden in a contrasting light of late afternoon. This painting will be completed in the following year and titled Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by reference to a nursery rhyme. It is a masterpiece of the artist and a turning point in his career.
Poppies, oil on canvas 62 x 91 cm, was painted in 1886 in England during the preparation of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. It was sold for $ 6.9M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2016, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The colors are vibrant but the modernism lies in the theme and composition of this humble piece of grass slope, anticipating by four years the interest of Van Gogh in Auvers for wild flowers. Red poppies and other flowers are the only subject of this magnificent painting without further forefront and whose background is completely darkened in the excuse of the nightfall.
#AuctionUpdate John Singer Sargent's gorgeous 'Poppies' from 1886 sells above estimate for $6.9m pic.twitter.com/MQJjeDBKCJ
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 18, 2016
1903 Marionettes
2013 SOLD for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's
John Singer Sargent is not a classical artist, although his full length portraits may evoke Boldini. He is not an Impressionist, although he was close to Monet at some time. His professional success was considerable but he was not understood.
Living mostly in Europe, he was one of the first Americans to build an artistic bridge between both continents. He loved the landscapes and scenes of Italy.
This worldly artist grew tired of social relations. As passionate for drawing as Goya was, he turned to a more personal art to such an extent that he closed in 1907 his portrait studio.
Marionettes (behind the curtain), oil on canvas 74 x 53 cm painted in 1903, is an intimate work created by the artist for his own pleasure, and was kept by his family until now. It was sold for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's on May 22, 2015. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scene is located in Philadelphia. Four Sicilian immigrants operate rod puppets. The bold composition has three registers, with an angle of view that would have pleased Degas. Separated from the men by the decor, two dolls play a medieval duel in the presence of an old woman.
Sargent loved the theater. This scene where the public is not visible is a juxtaposition between reality and play, with a rare spontaneity.
Living mostly in Europe, he was one of the first Americans to build an artistic bridge between both continents. He loved the landscapes and scenes of Italy.
This worldly artist grew tired of social relations. As passionate for drawing as Goya was, he turned to a more personal art to such an extent that he closed in 1907 his portrait studio.
Marionettes (behind the curtain), oil on canvas 74 x 53 cm painted in 1903, is an intimate work created by the artist for his own pleasure, and was kept by his family until now. It was sold for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's on May 22, 2015. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scene is located in Philadelphia. Four Sicilian immigrants operate rod puppets. The bold composition has three registers, with an angle of view that would have pleased Degas. Separated from the men by the decor, two dolls play a medieval duel in the presence of an old woman.
Sargent loved the theater. This scene where the public is not visible is a juxtaposition between reality and play, with a rare spontaneity.
1905 Group with Parasols
2004 SOLD for $ 23.5M by Sotheby's
Influenced by impressionism, John Singer Sargent was one of the best portrait painters of his time. As he approaches fifty, he wants to live his life better. He has been traveling throughout Europe since his youth. He will now refocus his art on the landscapes of his travels and on the holiday scenes with friends in Italy and Switzerland.
Group with Parasols (A Siesta) is an oil on canvas 55 x 71 cm painted in 1905. Two women and two men enjoy the farniente in a meadow on the border of a wood in the Swiss Alps.
The colors are very contrasted, in the chiaroscuro of a hot summer day. The removal of details takes some parts of the image to the borders of abstraction.
One of the men has his head resting on the belly of his mistress who is peacefully dozing under her white parasol. The painting was dedicated to this friend. This extramarital relationship, as well as the different position of each of the four sleepers, matches the artist's deep desire for a free life.
Group with Parasols was sold for $ 23.5M from a lower estimate of $ 9M by Sotheby's on December 1, 2004, lot 7. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Group with Parasols (A Siesta) is an oil on canvas 55 x 71 cm painted in 1905. Two women and two men enjoy the farniente in a meadow on the border of a wood in the Swiss Alps.
The colors are very contrasted, in the chiaroscuro of a hot summer day. The removal of details takes some parts of the image to the borders of abstraction.
One of the men has his head resting on the belly of his mistress who is peacefully dozing under her white parasol. The painting was dedicated to this friend. This extramarital relationship, as well as the different position of each of the four sleepers, matches the artist's deep desire for a free life.
Group with Parasols was sold for $ 23.5M from a lower estimate of $ 9M by Sotheby's on December 1, 2004, lot 7. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1908 Cashmere
1996 SOLD for $ 11M by Sotheby's
Executed in 1908, Cashmere is a painting by John Singer Sargent of his 11 year old niece elegantly draped in a cashmere shawl. She is featured in seven poses standing in two rows in the same profile, the head variously turned.
This painting 70 x 108 cm was sold for $ 11M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on December 5, 1996. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This painting 70 x 108 cm was sold for $ 11M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on December 5, 1996. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1913 San Geremia
2018 SOLD for $ 9.1M by Christie's
A visit to Monet at Giverny in 1885 had convinced John S. Sargent to perform outdoor painting.
Sargent was a lifelong fan of Venice since his first visit as a teenager with his parents. As a feedback to their friendship, a wealthy American woman who had introduced Sargent to the Monets was instrumental for deciding the French couple to visit Venice in 1908.
Sargent made his last trip to Venice in 1913. A panoramic view of San Geremia and surrounding palaces across the Grand Canal in a much balanced composition well centered onto the dome, oil on canvas 56 x 71 cm, was sold for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on May 9, 2018, lot 434 in the sale of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Sargent was a lifelong fan of Venice since his first visit as a teenager with his parents. As a feedback to their friendship, a wealthy American woman who had introduced Sargent to the Monets was instrumental for deciding the French couple to visit Venice in 1908.
Sargent made his last trip to Venice in 1913. A panoramic view of San Geremia and surrounding palaces across the Grand Canal in a much balanced composition well centered onto the dome, oil on canvas 56 x 71 cm, was sold for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on May 9, 2018, lot 434 in the sale of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1913 Girl Fishing
2014 SOLD for $ 4.3M by Christie's
Executed in 1913, Girl fishing in San Vigilio is a holiday painting by John S. Sargent.
That small fishing village on Lake Garda is referred as a paradise by the artist. Viewed from back, a young woman is standing under sunlight on the sea shore, busy to catch fish with a fishing rod. She is draped in a full length Cashmere shawl. The resolutely impressionist style highlights the rippling on the cerulean water on which some ducks are quietly swimming.
This oil on canvas 50 x 72 cm was sold for $ 4.3M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on June 18, 2014, lot 100. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
That small fishing village on Lake Garda is referred as a paradise by the artist. Viewed from back, a young woman is standing under sunlight on the sea shore, busy to catch fish with a fishing rod. She is draped in a full length Cashmere shawl. The resolutely impressionist style highlights the rippling on the cerulean water on which some ducks are quietly swimming.
This oil on canvas 50 x 72 cm was sold for $ 4.3M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on June 18, 2014, lot 100. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
