John Singer Sargent (Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
Yoho Falls, 1916
Oil on canvas, 94 x 113 cm (37 x 44 1/2 in.)
This horizontal oil painting shows the dramatic crash of a waterfall against the mountainous landscape of the Canadian Rockies. From the center of the painting up toward the top and our left is a billowing spray of white water. The artist uses shades of white to accentuate the depth and movement of the water. The power of the water’s momentum is evident from the way the spray covers the rock wall behind it. The flow of moving water is seen just to our right of the spray, shooting straight down before it crashes and releases the spray. In the background, on both sides of the falling water, is a craggy rock wall painted in shades of brown. Below the spray, to our left, the water’s path levels off as it travels down the mountain. The landscape plateaus as well, with rocks on both sides of the water, and low-growing green plants poking out from the rocks in the foreground. In the upper corner to our left is the inscription, John S. Sargent 1916.
Blue Room
Commentary
In the summer of 1916, John Singer Sargent felt a need for a respite from working on his mural scheme for the Boston Public Library and made plans to travel to the Candadian Rockies. Isabella Stewart Gardner took an interest in his trip and promised to buy a picture of Yoho Falls should Sargent manage to paint one. Sargent camped in a remote area under the falls and wrote to Isabella, "It is magnificent when the sun shines, which it did for the first two days. & I began a picture——that is ten days ago——and since then it has been raining and snowing steadily——provisions and temper getting low——but I shall stick it out till the sun reappears..." Sargent did indeed stick it out and Isabella purchased the picture that fall. It now hangs in the Blue Room gallery of her museum.