This week's #MuseumTourTuesday features an early work by the great John Singer Sargent from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. It's a well known piece, so you may have seen it before, but I just wanted to call attention to what I find so interesting about it.
Unlike his later work, the paint is very thinly applied for the most part. So thin, if fact, that we can clearly see the texture of the canvas throughout the painting. The thickness or lack of thickness in the paint makes no difference to the final outcome. It's a beautiful work, and Sargent's mastery of value is on full display, even at the age of 22.
Sargent went on to paint two copies of this piece, and featured the model, Rosina Ferrara, in a number of other paintings while visiting the island of Capri. The painting was exhibited at the French Salon in 1879, where it was negatively received, while in the same year it was praised by critics in New York at the Society of American Artists exhibition.
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| "A Capriote" • John Singer Sargent • Oil on Canvas • 1878 • 30.24" x 24.87" |
Painting photo by Saunders Fine Arts.
© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Patrick Saunders Fine Arts, 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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