MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, PRESENTS JOHN SINGER SARGENT WATERCOLORS On View Until January 20, 2014 Our Complete Coverage
When Whom You Know traveled to Boston in late 2013, we were delighted to begin coverage of the MFA. At Boston College, Peachy Deegan took a class on painting and did visit the MFA a few times (BC alum Peter Lynch's generosity to the MFA allowed students entry at the time, possibly still), so it was not our first trip. Though our visit was brief, it was spectacular and the MFA is on par with our favorite museum here in New York, The Met, although it is much smaller. You absolutely need to see John Singer Sargent Watercolors before it closes January 20th! It is a phenomenal show and worth the trip from New York.
Venice:
At Work:
Edward Darley Boit:
Sunlight on Stone:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), opens the landmark exhibition John Singer Sargent Watercolors on October 13, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see works by this beloved artist at the height of his artistic powers. Renowned in Boston, Sargent was internationally recognized as the greatest American painter of his age. The exhibition, on view through January 20, 2014, allows visitors to see Sargent reinvent himself as an artist for the 20th century as he mastered the watercolor medium. The 92 watercolors on display were made during Sargent’s painting trips throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and they include stunning portrayals of Venetian architecture, Bedouin camps, villa gardens, intertwined figures and sun-struck stone. To provide additional insight, 10 Sargent oil paintings are also on view, and for comparison, four by Sargent’s friend Edward Darley Boit and three by British watercolorists. Tickets can be purchased at mfa.org/sargent and include all-day access to the Museum along with a repeat visit within 10 days. MFA members, who always visit free, can see the exhibition first during Member Preview Days (October 8-12) and receive priority access to the show. John Singer Sargent Watercolors is sponsored by long-time partner Bank of America. After its presentation in Boston, the exhibition will continue to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from March 2 through May 26, 2014.
The show marks the first time in history that the two most significant collections of Sargent’s watercolors, from the MFA and the Brooklyn Museum, are on view together. In addition, numerous public programs that take a behind-the-scenes look at the artist’s life and art are being presented by the Museum, including a multimedia presentation, mobile guide, watercolor demonstrations and more. An accompanying publication, authored by co-curators Erica Hirshler of the MFA and Teresa Carbone of the Brooklyn Museum, explores Sargent’s relationship to watercolor and the technical brilliance of his work.
“By showing these works in such strength, visitors will appreciate the brilliance of Sargent’s watercolors, which were the most intimate and personal works of his career,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA. “This exhibition celebrates a complex artist and we are proud of the MFA’s role, past and present, in presenting Sargent’s legacy in Boston and around the world.”
Born in Italy to American parents, Sargent (1856–1925) considered Boston his American home. He first earned fame for his portraits, among them the masterpiece The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (1882), which is on view in the MFA’s Art of the Americas Wing in a gallery dedicated to the painter. As he evolved as an artist, he developed his skill as a watercolorist, making dynamic images of landscapes and figures. Saying “they give me pleasure to do and pleasure to keep,” Sargent participated in only two major watercolor exhibitions in the United States during his lifetime. The first, held in New York and Boston in 1909, caused a sensation, with its entire contents quickly purchased by the Brooklyn Museum. The equally acclaimed second show in 1912 was bought out by the MFA even before it opened. Sargent’s wish that his watercolors go only as complete sets to a single museum was fulfilled. Thus the watercolors in the exhibition, united here for the first time, were personally selected by Sargent to represent his finest efforts in the medium. 
“These watercolors are full of joy and freedom,” said Erica Hirshler, the MFA’s Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings, Art of the Americas. “They show an artist recreating himself for a new century, rediscovering his creativity and his passion for making works of art.” 
This exhibition, held in the Ann and Graham Gund Gallery, traces Sargent’s immersion in subjects he loved, set against the backdrop of his travels across Europe and the Middle East. The daringly conceived compositions—made in Portugal, Greece, Switzerland and the Alps, regions of Italy and the Ottoman Levant (present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria)—demonstrate the unity of his artistic vision after the turn of the 20th century, when he sought to liberate himself from the burden of portrait commissions and devoted himself instead to painting landscape, labor and leisure. Selected to expand understanding of Sargent’s artistic vision, the exhibition also presents 10 oil paintings of related subjects, including An Out-of-Doors Study, Paul Helleu and His Wife (1889), and The Master and His Pupils (1914).
“By bringing this stunning collection of Sargent’s work to his adoptive American hometown, the MFA once again proves why it’s regarded as a premiere cultural destination here in Boston and amongst the best around the world,” said Anne Finucane, global strategy and marketing officer, Bank of America. “In all our years working together to increase access to the arts, this is one of the most exciting exhibitions we’ve been a part of.”
The exhibition interweaves the Brooklyn and MFA works throughout the galleries, grouping them both geographically and by Sargent’s favored themes, such as reclining human figures, abstract landscapes and patterns of light and shadow. Views of Venice, of the Alps, and of the marble quarries at Carrara demonstrate Sargent’s keen eye for beauty in both expected and unexpected locations. Visitors can exult in Sargent’s mastery of this difficult medium, enjoying the splendor of these singular works while also learning about the techniques he used to make them so unusual and compelling.
Watercolors from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection date from 1902 to 1908 and represent a range of approaches to watercolor, from blurred wet washes that bleed onto the paper to evoke a watery canal to highly finished architectural scenes underpinned by careful pencil outlines. The powerful portrait Bedouins (1905–6), considered by the artist to be the keynote work of his Bedouin series, demonstrates that Sargent’s skill as a portraitist extended to his watercolors. Gourds (1908), painted in Majorca, Spain, reveals Sargent’s mastery of complex techniques, illustrating the fall of light as it flickers through leaves and the heavy fruit. In The Bridge of Sighs (1903–4), Sargent conjures a sense of a Venetian gondola’s movement through the city, while Mountain Fire (about 1905-07) flirts with abstraction in its depiction of smoke and mist in the Alps. 
Having missed out in 1909, the MFA was determined to acquire Sargent’s next watercolors and made its plans early. As talks began about a potential purchase, Sargent must have known he was painting for the MFA. Many of his later watercolors were different in character from those in the first group; they are often larger and more highly finished, and many are formally signed. In December of 1911, in Sargent’s studio in London, the MFA made its final arrangements. By the turn of the New Year, it was official, and all the watercolors on view at the 1912 exhibition in New York were destined for the MFA. At the time, it was the largest collection of any living painter acquired by the Museum.
On view more than a century ago to rave reviews, the watercolors in the MFA’s collection are comprised of varied subjects. While apparently informal, the portrait Simplon Pass: Reading (about 1911) was meticulously arranged, with Sargent orchestrating the women, their parasols, and their skirts to create a stunning exploration of tinted whites and colored shadows. The Cashmere Shawl (about 1911), featuring Sargent’s niece wrapped in a favorite prop, comes as close as any of his watercolors to his grand portraits in oil with their sense of luxury and sweeping movement. Also in the MFA’s collection are 12 images of the marble quarries at Carrara, an unparalleled exploration of sunlight on stone; views of the sundrenched gardens of Italy, and the tour-de-force Corfu: Lights and Shadows (1909), a piece that proves the statement made by the artist’s first biographer that Sargent’s watercolors were “sunlight captured and held.”
Additional support for the exhibition provided by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for Art and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Advance Ticket Purchases
Admission tickets provide all-day access to the Museum, including John Singer Sargent Watercolors, as well as one repeat visit within 10 days. On view from October 13, 2013–January 20, 2014, tickets are $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and can be purchased at mfa.org/sargent.
Member Preview Days
MFA members are the first to see John Singer Sargent Watercolors during Member Preview Days, October 8–12. Members always visit free and never need a ticket to visit the MFA’s collections and exhibitions. For more information on membership, please visit mfa.org/membership/levels-and-benefits.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by the publication John Singer Sargent Watercolors (MFA Publications; Brooklyn Museum, 2013). The publication introduces readers to Sargent and the full sweep of his accomplishments in watercolor. Written by Erica Hirshler and Teresa Carbone, with an introduction by Sargent’s grandnephew Richard Ormond, essays by Annette Manick and Antoinette Owen and contributions by Karen A. Sherry, Janet Chen, and Connie Choi, the 248-page book includes 175 color illustrations. Generous support for the publication was provided by the Vance Wall Foundation. It is available in hardcover ($60) and softcover ($39.95) in the MFA Bookstore and Shop or online at mfashop.com.
Educational Programs
An array of lectures and studio art classes on Sargent and watercolor painting are being offered this fall at the MFA. Lectures include In Sargent’s Footsteps with Richard Ormond, Sargent’s grandnephew, and Made in the Shade: Sargent's Watercolors of Italian Villa Gardens with Teresa Carbone, co-curator of John Singer Sargent Watercolors. Art classes range from a casual one-night workshop, Watercolor with Friends, to a Five-Week Intro to Watercolor studio art class. Drop-in artist demonstrations of watercolor technique are free every Sunday from October 13–November 17, and allow guests to create their own small watercolor painting. For more information on educational programming related to the exhibition, visit mfa.org/programs.
Tours and Multimedia
A number of multimedia elements are available to visitors in the gallery and online. A mobile tour comprises 16 stops and provides one-of-a-kind exploration of the artist’s watercolor paintings with Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director; Erica Hirshler, exhibition curator; and Sargent expert—and grandnephew of the painter—Richard Ormond. In a 12-minute in-gallery video, artist Monika de Vries Gohlke explores Sargent’s techniques by attempting to re-create his well-known work, Melon Boats (about 1908). The exhibition also includes a 16-screen video wall that introduces visitors to the artist’s fascination with light, color and shadow. The Sargent exhibition page on mfa.org features a slideshow of key works and a video demonstrating Sargent’s watercolor techniques.
Press Images and Additional Information
High-resolution images from the exhibition are downloadable in the Press Room image library at mfa.org/news. For more information about the MFA, please visit mfa.org. Join the conversation about the MFA on Twitter: twitter.com/mfaboston and Facebook: facebook.com/mfaboston, and watch MFA-related videos at youtube.com/mfaboston.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is recognized for the quality and scope of its encyclopedic collection, which includes an estimated 450,000 objects. The Museum’s collection is made up of: Art of the Americas; Art of Europe; Contemporary Art; Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Art of the Ancient World; Prints, Drawings, and Photographs; Textile and Fashion Arts; and Musical Instruments. Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.; and Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 9:45 p.m. Admission (which includes one repeat visit within 10 days) is $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and includes entry to all galleries and special exhibitions, including John Singer Sargent Watercolors. Admission is free for University Members and youths age 17 and younger on weekdays after 3 p.m., weekends, and Boston Public Schools holidays; otherwise $10. Wednesday nights after 4 p.m. admission is by voluntary contribution (suggested donation $25). MFA Members are always admitted for free. The MFA’s multi-media guide is available at ticket desks and the Sharf Visitor Center for $5, members; $6, non-members; and $4, youths. The Museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Patriots’ Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For more information, visit mfa.org or call 617.267.9300. The MFA is located on the Avenue of the Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
