JOHN SINGER SARGENT | San Vigilio: A Boat with a Golden Sail

Estate of the artist (sale: Christie's, London, 24 July 1925, lot 134
Thomas Agnew & Sons, London
Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Boston Massachusetts ((Governor Fuller was a major collector of Sargent's work and owned fourteen pictures by the artist) acquired in 1925; sale: Christie’s, London, 1 December 1961, lot 39)
Nicholson
Private collection, New York (acquired in 1967)
Adelson Galleries, New York (acquired in 1999)
Private collection (acquired from the above circa 2008)
 

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late John Singer Sargent, 1925, no. 110
Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester Art Museum, Paintings from the Collection of Governor Alvan T. Fuller, 1927, n.n.
Boston, Boston Art Club, Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, April, 1928, no. 33
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, 1959, no. 49, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Adelson Galleries, Sargent Abroad, 1997, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue
Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti; Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Denver, Denver Art Museum, Sargent and Italy, 2003, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue

'Sargent Paintings to Grace Boston Home of Alvan T. Fuller', 14 September 1925 Country Life, vol. 58, July 18, 1925, p. iii, illustrated
'A Painter Gains Immortality: John Singer Sargent takes his Place with the Old Masters', in Independent, vol. 115, no. 3931, October, 1925, p. 387, p. 388, illustrated
William Howe Downes, John S. Sargent: His Life and Work, London, 1926, p. 327
Evan Charteris, John Sargent, London, 1927, p. 292
Charles Merrill Mount, John Singer Sargent: A Biography, 1955, p. 451, K. 135
Warren Adelson, Sargent Abroad: Figures and Landscapes, New York, 1997, pp. 168, 169, pl. 162, illustrated 
Richard Ormond & Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1908-1913, Complete Paintings; volume VIII, New Haven, Connecticut, 2014, pp. 301, 304, no. 1706, illustrated and back cover illustration

Painted in 1913 in San Vigilio, on the tranquil shores of Lake Garda, the present work is a masterful example of Sargent’s fascination for water and light, rendered by cropped compositions and confident, vigorous brushwork.  A beautifully draped, yellow sail is the focus of the composition. The water and the architectural elements around it all appear to be reflecting its golden light, enhanced by the artist’s clever juxtaposition of yellows, blues and greens. As in his Venetian subjects, Sargent uses a low perspective, possibly from a boat, looking upwards to the houses around him allowing the viewer to have the experience of floating along the lake. The shifting angles and tilted perspective lend these works a sense of immediacy and spontaneity.

The present work is reminiscent of Sargent’s earliest views of Venice which date from the summer of 1880, when the artist took a studio at the Palazzo Rezzonico and ventured out into the streets to paint. The resulting works largely comprise scenes of modern life, populated by working-class men and women idling in the narrow streets or labouring in dark interiors, rendered in a tonal palette. Sargent returned to Venice repeatedly over the next thirty years, eventually completing over 150 views of the city in both watercolour and oil. With the same fluency and mastery of medium showcased in his Venice views, the beauty of San Vigilio is here captured in the glimmering light and the rendering of the rippling water.

The present work was acquired in 1925 by Governor Alvan T. Fuller of Boston (1878-1958). A distinguished political figure and a noted philanthropist, he owned fourteen oils and watercolours by Sargent.