Lot Essay
Positively enamored by the beauty of the floating city, Venice cityscapes feature prominently in Sargent’s oeuvre, particularly in the years from 1898 to 1913. The present work—executed circa 1902-1904—depicts one of Sargent’s most common Venetian architectural subjects: the Libreria.
Located in the heart of Venice, Sansovino’s Libreria is a grand library overlooking the city’s picturesque canals. Between the building’s intricate fa?ade and the towering column of St. Theodore is a bustling city scene, with St. Mark’s basilica in the background at right. According to Richard Ormond, Sargent’s studies of the Libreria can be understood “in one of two ways, as analytic studies of architecture, or as arbitrary pictorial constructs.” (Sargent’s Venice, exhibition catalogue, New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, p. 111) Indeed, Sargent brings his own variable perspective and artistic invention to a subject that he frequently revisited.
Painting from a gondola, Sargent imbues the composition with a sense of movement. His dynamic, gestural brushwork outlines a scene bathed in late afternoon sunlight, with gondolas floating in the reflective water. Sargent painted numerous scenes of La Libreria and the surrounding area. A lower viewpoint of the same vista is depicted in a watercolor entitled The Piazzetta, Venice at the Tate in London.
Located in the heart of Venice, Sansovino’s Libreria is a grand library overlooking the city’s picturesque canals. Between the building’s intricate fa?ade and the towering column of St. Theodore is a bustling city scene, with St. Mark’s basilica in the background at right. According to Richard Ormond, Sargent’s studies of the Libreria can be understood “in one of two ways, as analytic studies of architecture, or as arbitrary pictorial constructs.” (Sargent’s Venice, exhibition catalogue, New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, p. 111) Indeed, Sargent brings his own variable perspective and artistic invention to a subject that he frequently revisited.
Painting from a gondola, Sargent imbues the composition with a sense of movement. His dynamic, gestural brushwork outlines a scene bathed in late afternoon sunlight, with gondolas floating in the reflective water. Sargent painted numerous scenes of La Libreria and the surrounding area. A lower viewpoint of the same vista is depicted in a watercolor entitled The Piazzetta, Venice at the Tate in London.