Ships at Palma
probably 1908
John Singer Sargent came to relish painting landscape and exotic scenery as something of a relief from portraiture, for which he was in much demand. Particularly in his later years he did so magnificently on his travels. Increasingly his work was done in the traveler's medium of watercolor. As this beautiful work done on the island of Majorca shows, even late in his career Sargent's powers of observation and transcription never waned.
Watercolor on paper
12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7cm)
Partial and promised gift from a private collection
2005.164
Provenance: the artist or an intermediary, to [Daniel H. Farr, Philadelphia, 1923]; to [M. Knoedler & Co., New York, April 1923, inv. #WC1550; as Palma]; sold to [ F. W. Bayley & Son, Boston, April 1923]; with Eleanor M. Cochran Sears (Mrs. Richard Dudley Sears), Boston, by 1925; to her daughter, Marian Sears Minot (Mrs. Dr. James Minot), Beverly, Massachusetts; [{Mc Ginnis auction, August 23, 1986, as Sailboats at Anchor}]; sold to [Thomas W. Colville, Inc., Fine Paintings, New Haven, Connecticut, as Yachts at Anchor, Palma de Majorca]; sold to donor, 1986
Photo: Susan Cole