John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925)
Fountain of Neptune
INV-1459
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925)1902
Fountain of Neptune
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925) →Impressionismpaintingamerican arts
Date
1902
Medium
Oil on board
Dimensions
57.2 × 47.6 cm (22 1/2 × 18 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Anonymous loan
Best known for his society portraits, John Singer Sargent was likewise adept at landscapes and architectural studies, practices that he increasingly pursued after 1900 in both oil and watercolor. Fountain of Neptune depicts a portion of the famous 16th-century fountain in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Painting his composition on site, en plein air, Sargent chose an up-close, truncated view of the sculpture, focusing not on the god of Neptune, but on the twisting, muscular bodies of other bronze figures adorning the fountain. The play of light on intricate surfaces of architecture and decoration is the composition’s principal subject.
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