Landscape late 19th–early 20th century

John Singer Sargent made this landscape with graphite on paper. It’s an example of the kind of informal work that the artist would do in preparation for a larger composition, but here it stands alone as a finished work. Sargent was an American artist, but he spent much of his life in Europe, where his art education and career were shaped by the Beaux-Arts tradition. As a student he would have been encouraged to make observational drawings such as this one. Sargent's landscapes mark a shift in the late nineteenth century, as artists were more focused on representing the natural world as it is, and their place within it. The beauty of this simple image lies in the eye of the beholder, of course, but understanding its origins in a specific time and place will allow us to appreciate it even more. There are libraries full of books about Sargent and his world. The job of the art historian is to uncover such things.