John Singer Sargent: The Watercolors March 2–May 26, 2014
John Singer Sargent, Simplon Pass: Reading, c. 1911, opaque and translucent watercolor and wax resist with graphite underdrawing, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Hayden Collection—Charles Henry Hayden Fund. Photograph © 2013 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
John Singer Sargent, Villa di Marlia, Lucca: A Fountain, 1910, translucent watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor and wax resist with graphite underdrawing, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Hayden Collection—Charles Henry Hayden Fund. Photograph © 2013 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
John Singer Sargent, Bedouins, c. 1905–06, opaque and translucent watercolor, Brooklyn Museum, purchased by Special Subscription.
John Singer Sargent, The Bridge of Sighs, c. 1903–04, translucent and opaque watercolor with graphite and red-pigmented underdrawing, Brooklyn Museum, purchased by Special Subscription.
John Singer Sargent, In a Medici Villa, 1906, translucent watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor with graphite underdrawing, Brooklyn Museum, purchased by Special Subscription.
"Prepare for bedazzlement." —New York Times
John Singer Sargent: The Watercolors offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see 100 gorgeous watercolors by Gilded Age American master John Singer Sargent (1856–1925). Fabulous early-20th-century scenes of landscape, labor, and leisure highlight Sargent’s exquisite mastery of the medium of watercolor, in which he was unsurpassed.
This expansive exhibition unites, for the first time, the two most significant collections of his watercolor paintings: holdings from the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Brooklyn and Boston collections were purchased by the two museums (in 1909 and 1912, respectively) directly from Sargent’s only two American watercolor exhibitions, at the Knoedler Gallery in New York.
Representing Sargent’s departure from the commissioned portraits that made him famous, the compositions in this exhibition were painted in Greece, Italy, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Syria. The subjects include scenes of Mediterranean sailing vessels, villa gardens, marble quarries, fountains, gondoliers at work, and one of Venice’s greatest churches, as well as explorations of sunlight and shadow.
In-Gallery Extra: Audio Tour
Enhance your exhibition experience and learn more about the artwork on view. You may purchase the optional audio tour at the admissions desks.
This exhibition is organized by the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
In Houston, generous funding is provided by:
Kinder Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hevrdejs
Mr. and Mrs. Meredith J. Long
Carol and Michael Linn
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Barr
Ann G. Trammell
Education programs for this exhibition are made possible by the Favrot Fund.
The national tour of the exhibition is made possible by:
