John Singer Sargent
In the summer of 1878, John Singer Sargent left his studio in Paris's bohemian Latin Quarter and traveled to the Mediterranean island of Capri, located in Italy just outside the Bay of Naples. At the time of Sargent's visit, Capri was still relatively unknown among European and American tourists, but was a popular destination for artists, drawn to its distinctive scenery and architecture. Sargent was 22 and at the beginning of what would become a very successful career, having just completed four years of instruction under the French portrait painter Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran. He took up residence at the Marina hotel, and for several weeks shared English artist Frank Hyde's studio space in the abandoned monastery of Santa Teresa.
Staircase in Capri shows Sargent's interest in the contrast of tonal values and the effects of sunlight on architectural forms. He experimented with the geometry of architectural forms and the play of light on white surfaces in several studies, but this spare and elegant composition is his most refined and abstract essay. A long flight of stone steps rising steeply is painted from a very low viewpoint, with green vine branches entwined on a pergola, against slight splashes of bright blue sky visible at the top. The shaft-like staircase is attenuated by the stark verticality of the design, and bright sunlight striking the flat, reflective surfaces makes sharp diagonal contrasts on the walls and throws patches of shadow onto the steps. The architecture occupies all but one segment of the picture space, making it essentially an arrangement in white, an astringent tonal exercise subtly painted in shades of pearl, silver, and gray, with hints of mauve and blue in the shadows.
P.S. Beautiful, sunlit views were not the only element of Capri that enchanted the artist. Read about the Capri romance of John Singer Sargent and Rosina Ferrara.