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John Singer Sargent

A Boating Party, ca. 1889

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925, American

Title

A Boating Party

Year

ca. 1889

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

88.3 x 91.4 cm (34 3/4 x 36 inches)

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Houghton P. Metcalf in memory of her husband, Houghton P. Metcalf

Object Number

78.086

Projects & Publications

Publications

American Impressionism

a New Vision 1880-1900

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Selection VII

American Painting from the Museum's Collection, c.1800-1930

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Making It In America

October 11, 2013 - February 9, 2014

Sargent painted A Boating Party during a late summer vacation on England’s River Avon. During the extended holiday with his sister Violet and friends Paul and Alice Helleu, he experimented with Impressionist composition and technique. The unfinished background at the upper right shows that he had not yet mastered the use of broken brushstrokes, but his confidence is apparent in the placement of figures, the reflections in the water, and the asymmetric organization of the boats. With an amusing sense of photographic cropping, Sargent keeps the flat red punt from slipping out of the picture by anchoring it with lanky Paul Helleu’s leg.

An American Idyll

April 6, 2007 - January 6, 2008

Dress, Art, and Society

September 13, 1996 - January 5, 1997

From the Reserve IV

July 22 - October 2, 1994

Romanticism and Revival

December 4, 1992 - June 26, 1993

Masterpieces from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

July 18 - September 14, 1979

Selection VII

March 31 - May 8, 1977

18th and 19th-Century American Galleries

Charles Pendleton House

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is A Boating Party with the accession number of 78.086. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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