Cafe Scene, Seville
artist
John Singer Sargent
(Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
Date1879
Place MadeSpain, Europe
MediumGraphite on paper
Dimensions23.9 x 33 cm (9 7/16 x 13 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS.G.Sar.4.2.4.17
eMuseum ID723707
Previous NumberS.G.Sar.1.2.4
EmbARK ObjectID24345
Original Number4.2.4
TMS Source ID8879
Last Updated10/22/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryJohn Singer Sargent traveled to Spain eight times, once as a child and seven times as an adult. He took his first extended (adult) trip there in 1879. In the wake of that journey, he created his most famous Spanish painting: El Jaleo, which Isabella ultimately bought and displayed prominently in her museum—where it remains on view today. This sketch—and the sketchbook it is part of—was probably completed on-site during his travels in 1879.
BibliographyNotesRollin van N. Hadley (ed.). Drawings: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1968), p. 46, no. 22, ill. (as "A Couple in a Cabaret")
Richard Ormond. "Sargent's El Jaleo." Fenway Court (1970), pp. 2-18.
Mary Crawford Volk. John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 1992), pp. 170-184, no. 27-45.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 159.
Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray. John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1871–1882. Complete Paintings Volume IV. (New Haven and London, 2006), pp. 225-275, fig. 123.
Sarah Cash, Elaine Kilmurray, and Richard Ormond. Sargent & Spain. Exh. cat. (Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, 2022; Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 2023), pp. 81, no. 38.
Diana Seave Greenwald, "John Singer Sargent, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Spain," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 August 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/john-singer-sargent-isabella-stewart-gardner-and-spain
Richard Ormond. "Sargent's El Jaleo." Fenway Court (1970), pp. 2-18.
Mary Crawford Volk. John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 1992), pp. 170-184, no. 27-45.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 159.
Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray. John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1871–1882. Complete Paintings Volume IV. (New Haven and London, 2006), pp. 225-275, fig. 123.
Sarah Cash, Elaine Kilmurray, and Richard Ormond. Sargent & Spain. Exh. cat. (Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, 2022; Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 2023), pp. 81, no. 38.
Diana Seave Greenwald, "John Singer Sargent, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Spain," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 August 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/john-singer-sargent-isabella-stewart-gardner-and-spain
MarksNotesSigned in pencil (upper right): John S. Sargent. Seville.
ProvenanceNotesGift from John Singer Sargent to Isabella Stewart Gardner in a sketchbook containing 18 sheets with 22 drawings in 1919.
