John Singer Sargent (Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
A Tent in the Rockies, about 1916
Watercolor on paper , 38 x 52 cm (14 15/16 x 20 1/2 in.)
This horizontal watercolor shows a large white open tent set in a forest. In the background is a grove of pine trees, some in shadow in the rear and the ones closer in painted in shades of green and brown. A pale blue sky with white wispy clouds can be seen in the space between the trees. In the foreground is the tent resting on the flat, green forest floor. Branches and small rocks are on the ground. The tent is made of white fabric which is draped over tall birch branches. Two branches form a “V” in front with another branch over the top. The front panels of the tent are folded back and hooked over the birch branches. A red mat, white metal pan, and other indistinct items are on the floor inside the tent. In the bottom corner to your left is the signature John S. Sargent.
Close
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 231-32.
Rebecca W. Karo. “Ah Wilderness! Sargent in the Rockies, 1916.” Fenway Court (1976), pp. 20-29.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 206-7.
Kathleen A. Foster. American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent. Exh. cat. (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2017), pp. 328-29, fig. 281.
Object details
Accession number
P3w17
Primary Creator
John Singer Sargent (Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
Full title
A Tent in the Rockies
Creation Date
about 1916
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the gallery Doll & Richards, Boston on 26 October 1916 for $325.
Marks
Signed in ink (bottom left): John S. Sargent
Dimensions
38 x 52 cm (14 15/16 x 20 1/2 in.)
Display Media
Watercolor on paper
Dimension Notes
Frame: 64 cm x 77.5 cm (25 3/16 x 30 1/2 in.)
Web Commentary
Sargent began many of his watercolors with careful pencil drawings that laid out the overall composition of each picture. If you look closely you can see traces of pencil in the folds of the tent’s opening. Light and shade effects, however, were rarely indicated through pencil under-drawings. Sargent would leave that to the skill of his brush in mixing colors, giving his watercolors their fresh beauty.
Permanent Gallery Location
Blue Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 33.Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 231-32.
Rebecca W. Karo. “Ah Wilderness! Sargent in the Rockies, 1916.” Fenway Court (1976), pp. 20-29.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 206-7.
Kathleen A. Foster. American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent. Exh. cat. (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2017), pp. 328-29, fig. 281.
Rights and reproductions
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Blue Room
Commentary
Sargent began many of his watercolors with careful pencil drawings that laid out the overall composition of each picture. If you look closely you can see traces of pencil in the folds of the tent’s opening. Light and shade effects, however, were rarely indicated through pencil under-drawings. Sargent would leave that to the skill of his brush in mixing colors, giving his watercolors their fresh beauty.