John Singer Sargent
American
The American painter John Singer Sargent was born in Florence, Italy, and grew up in the cultural capitals of Europe, thanks to his parents, who left Philadelphia for a nomadic, expatriate life abroad. Exposed to European art and culture from birth, Sargent attended art schools wherever he was living and developed into a consummate cosmopolitan, evident in his portrait commissions of social elites, first in Paris and then in England and the United States.
Born
1856
Died
1925
What risks do you take to create something unique?
A friend who accompanied Sargent on three trips to the Alps and the Austrian Tyrol once described the artist’s precarious position as he painted an alpine stream: “I saw him working on a steep mountain side, the branch of a torrent rushing between his feet, one of which was set on stones piled up in the water.” Perhaps that was the artist’s perch as he painted this mountain landscape, which shows an angler prowling the bank of a wild stream, watching the water intently for his next catch.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Credit
Bequest of Isabella M. Cowell to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Item ID
1951.24
Dimensions
22 x 28 in. (55.9 x 71.1 cm)
Date
1914
Country
Artist name
John Singer Sargent
Artwork location