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American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists
|
- Sale 2105
Live
| Philadelphia
Dec 8 | 2:00 PM EST
Live
| Philadelphia
Sale 2105
| Philadelphia
| Philadelphia
Estimate$40,000 – $60,000
Provenance:
Sir Evan Edward Charteris, KC.
By descent to the present owner (his step-grandson).
Christie's, New York, Sale of March 23, 1984, Lot 22.
203 Fine Art, Taos, New Mexico.
Private Collection, New Mexico.
Exhibited:
London, The Royal Academy, John Singer Sargent, R.A., 1926, cat. no. 114 or 152.
Literature:
Richard Ormond & Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscape, 1908-1913, New Haven, 2014, vol. VIII, p. 325, no. 1733, illus.
Note:
Sir Evan Charteris lent three watercolors for the Royal Academy Exhibition, entitled In the Tyrol (no. 75), Above Lake Garda, (no. 114), and San Vigilio (no. 152).
Lot Essay:
Born in Florence to American expatriate parents, John Singer Sargent maintained a lifelong bond with Italy. Venice, its people, and its vicinity were recurring subjects in his work, including the Lake Garda region, depicted in this exquisite watercolor. While Sargent gravitated around emblematic places, his artistic interest was often just off the beaten path, not quite what the tourist gaze knew or expected of those places. In this case, Lake Garda was a fashionable destination with quaint villages dotting its shoreline and intense clear blue water, but Sargent opted to shift his gaze to the heights rising away from the lively shore.
As evidenced here, Sargent was adept at depicting picturesque views. His rendering of light through vivid, glimmering color, as well as a soft and fluid brushwork create an atmosphere, more than a landscape. There is a synesthetic quality to his work, with sensory crossovers fully immersing the viewer, who can simultaneously see and feel the dry climate of the mountains, the warm sunlight radiating from the expansive sky and bathing the peaks, trees and path. The prowess of Sargent’s work lies not merely in its visual qualities, but in the way it also conjures a palpable experience.
Minor deposits of surface dirt and dust; sheet is laid to board;
very minor toning around extreme edges of image perimeter; five pinpoint brown stains scattered through the lower part of the composition, within the landscape. Additional images available upon request.
Framed: 25 x 30 x 2 in.
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Adam Veil
VP, Head of Department, American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists
