Under the Cypress Trees at Corfu - John Singer Sargent
Archival giclée
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Description
A study of two figures resting in the shade of cypress trees, painted by John Singer Sargent during his 1909 visit to Corfu.
John Singer Sargent painted this work during his 1909 visit to the Greek island of Corfu. The composition captures two figures resting in the shade of tall, vertical cypress trees. The artist employs a fluid, painterly technique, focusing on the interplay between the bright Mediterranean light and the deep shadows cast upon the ground.
Sargent often sought respite from his demanding portrait commissions by travelling through Europe, where he produced numerous oil studies and watercolours. These works demonstrate his interest in capturing transient moments of leisure and the specific atmospheric conditions of the locations he visited. The figures in this painting are rendered with loose, confident brushwork, their forms partially obscured by the dappled light filtering through the foliage above.
The colour palette relies on the contrast between the cool, blue tones of the distant sea and the warm, earthy hues of the foreground. The verticality of the cypress trees provides a structural counterpoint to the relaxed, horizontal posture of the figures. This work reflects the artist's ability to balance observation with a spontaneous, gestural application of paint. It is a characteristic example of his later period, where he moved away from the formal constraints of his earlier studio practice to explore the effects of natural light in an outdoor setting. The painting remains a study of light and shadow, prioritising the immediate visual experience over narrative detail.
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Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Under the Cypress Trees at Corfu - John Singer Sargent
Artist Biography
John Singer Sargent
He was born in Florence to American expatriate parents and grew up moving between European cities. He never lived in America until he was middle-aged. He studied under Carolus-Duran in Paris, who taught him to paint directly from observation without underdrawing: load the brush, find the right tone, put it down in one stroke. The method required extraordinary hand-eye coordination and supreme confidence. Sargent had both.
Madame X, painted in 1884, nearly ended his career. The portrait of Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau, an American socialite in Parisian society, showed her in a black dress with one shoulder strap hanging off. The Salon audience was scandalised. Sargent repainted the strap in its proper position but the damage was done. He left Paris for London and rebuilt.
In London he became the portraitist of choice for the Anglo-American upper class. The technique is astonishing: he painted quickly, in long single-session sittings, and the brushwork has a fluency that makes other portraitists look laborious. The Wyndham Sisters, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, and the portrait of Theodore Roosevelt show what he could do at full stretch.
He eventually did stop. After 1907 he largely abandoned portraits for watercolours and the murals at the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts. The watercolours, painted on travels through Italy, Spain, and the Middle East, are looser and freer than the portraits and possibly better. He died in London in 1925, at sixty-nine.
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