OCTOBER 13, 2013–JANUARY 20, 2014
John Singer Sargent Watercolors
Simplon Pass: Reading, about 1911,
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent Watercolors, co-organized by the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), will combine for the first time the two most significant collections of watercolor paintings by John Singer Sargent (1856–1925). Celebrating a century of Sargent watercolors, the exhibition will offer visitors an unprecedented opportunity to view more than 90 of the watercolors Sargent produced between 1902 and 1911, when he was at the height of his artistic powers and internationally recognized as the greatest American painter of his age. His bold and experimental approach to the medium caused a sensation in Britain and great excitement in America.
The Brooklyn and Boston works were purchased by the two museums straight from Sargent’s only American watercolor exhibitions, held at Knoedler Gallery in New York (Brooklyn acquired its collection in 1909; the MFA in 1912). These daringly conceived compositions beautifully illustrate the artist’s travels through Portugal, Greece, Switzerland and the Alps, regions of Italy and the Ottoman Levant (Jerusalem, Beirut and Syria). They will be organized to illustrate Sargent’s favored themes, such as reclining human figures, abstract landscapes and sunlight on stone. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication exploring Sargent’s relationship to watercolor painting and examining the technical brilliance of his work.
John Singer Sargent Watercolors is sponsored by Bank of America.This exhibition was previously on view at the Brooklyn Museum.