Mountain Landscape; verso: Foliage Studies 1872

Curator: Here we have John Singer Sargent's "Mountain Landscape; verso: Foliage Studies," a pencil drawing currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Immediately, it feels like a visual haiku—sparse, suggestive, almost a memory of a landscape rather than a depiction. Curator: It's interesting you say that. Sargent, known for his society portraits, often escaped to landscapes for personal exploration. This sketch, with its fleeting lines, offers a glimpse into his private artistic process. Editor: Absolutely. Those quick, almost frantic lines – they convey the sheer scale and imposing presence of the mountains so economically. The verso foliage studies, unseen here, complete the artist's immersion in nature. It's a study in contrasts. Curator: Indeed. It also mirrors the late 19th-century art market's increasing interest in smaller works like sketches. They offered intimate access to an artist's mind. Editor: I feel a sense of reverence, a quiet meditation on nature's grandeur distilled into this small space. Curator: A sentiment Sargent likely felt keenly as he captured this fleeting impression.