John Singer Sargent
Today we continue our special month with the RISD Museum collection. Enjoy! :)
John Singer Sargent was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. Today we present his unfinished work, which he painted during a holiday with friends on the river Avon in England. Its broken brushstrokes and asymmetric cropping demonstrate Impressionist techniques that he first encountered 15 years earlier, when he began his studies in Paris.
Several years before Sargent started work on A Boating Party, he formed a friendship with artist Claude Monet. This 1889 painting and Monet’s paintings reflect both artists’ interests in capturing reflections of landscape, figures, and boats in water.
P.S. Check out our brand new calendars for 2026 that offers a year-long gallery of the world’s most cherished artworks. :)
P.P.S. Sargent is mostly known for his portraits of the 19th-century elite. His oeuvre, however, is far more complex. Discover John Singer Sargent in 10 paintings!