Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

Sargent’s first inspiration for the painting came from an evening boating trip along the Thames at Pangbourne in 1885, when he saw Chinese lanterns hanging in the trees. He began Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose while staying at the home of the artist Francis David Millet. The models for the two little girls, Polly and her sister Dorothy, were actually the daughters of the artist Frederick Barnard. In this painting, Sargent reveals his cosmopolitan influences, giving in to English pre-Raphaelite impulses while holding on to the Impressionist “en plein air" technique he learned from his friend Monet in Paris. He painted mostly outside during the late summers of 1885 and 1886, catching the delicate twilight glow before the light faded into evening. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose was painted entirely out of doors at this magical twilight time of day and it is wonderfully complicated. It’s a kind of Garden of Eden, a garden dense with flowers and foliage. With the two little girls lighting the lanterns, it’s an image of childhood innocence.