Who wouldn’t love a vacation where you get to paint at the fountain at Villa Tortolonia in Italy?
I imagine it would be quite easy to succumb to the quaint charms of this tiny Italian village. Sargent surely did.
John Singer Sargent was on vacation with his friends, Jane de Glehn and Wilfred de Glehn. They were both artists and married to each other. The couple had been on several trips with Sargent as the third wheel. In fact, he even accompanied them on their honeymoon. I think it’s more likely that they were just training wheels for his unicycle. I mean, if a famous artist, a legend, asks you to accompany him to Italy, you’re probably not going to say no.
This painting features the couple. Jane paints as Wilfred catches a break, sneaking a peek at his wife’s work. By 1907, Sargent had made enough money to make time for plein-air painting. He hung out with Monet, watching him paint and painting him painting. Sargent loved the method of painting outside, but never took to Impressionism.
Wilfred de Glehn met Sargent in Paris in 1895. He was hired to assist Sargent and Edwin Abbey on their mural project at the Boston Public Library. Wilfred accompanied the duo on a few of their numerous trips to Boston. It's said that the British painter met Jane Erin Emmet, his now-wife, on one of these work trips. In 1903, they were engaged and a year later, married.
Sargent wasn’t happy at first, he wrote to Wilfred when he heard about his engagement. He was afraid that his friend would stay back in America and he wouldn’t get to see him as often. Sargent didn’t say it in so many words. He did that thing you do when you want to save face after you have been vulnerable. You say what you feel and cover it up with an “I’m only joking”. Sargent was clearly very very fond of Wilfred. A few theories suggest that they may have been lovers, but we’re not so sure about that. Their relationship was like that of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson...who I suppose could also have been lovers. So, well, yeah, you never know.
Jane de Glehn, it turned out, was a super chill lady. Sargent had absolutely nothing to worry about. The couple moved to London, very close to Sargent’s house. Sargent couldn't be more thrilled. He found in Jane a friend and a muse. She would come to feature in quite a lot of his paintings. In this painting, she’s the hero. She sits higher than her husband, clad in white, and visibly the most active element in the frame. Sargent really liked her, and some believe that he liked her even more than Wilfred. This would probably be the weirdest love triangle ever. If it were a love triangle. It looks more like a circle to me. John Singer Sargent swivels in both directions, happy to be with either one, or both.
This painting shows that moments that can catch your breath in life are generally the ones that are not planned out. For instance, the moment that is captured in this painting is a couple enjoying themselves on their trip in front of a waterfall, which seems very simple, and yet this painting alone can show just how much they are enjoying it.
For instance, the first thing that captivated me is that there is a woman painting in it., which did not happen often, so it shows that at least when it came to art, despite the existing disparities that existed between the sexes, it was possible for women to use it as a medium and to be recognized for it as it is done with this painting.
The fact that the woman decided to paint at this moment shows that she must have found something to be particularly beautiful about this moment specifically that led her to want to capture the moment. Maybe it was her husband that she was painting, or maybe the waterfall was just majestic enough to make her want to bring it home with her on her canvas, but whatever it was, it must have been worth the time to carefully examine each detail in order to reproduce it on the canvas. And from the husband's look on the painting, it must have been one really interesting painting!
Additionally, one of the most interesting details about this painting is that it is a painter who painted a painter painting next to a painter. The clever use of his canvas to highlight another artist making their art is very impressive and I salute his insight! As far as the mechanic goes, he was able to beautifully make use of foreshortening perspective was a very good way of creating the illusion of distance, the vivid colors made the entire thing look really life-like and alive, and the composition allows viewers to focus on one thing at a time. Overall, it is a painting that I really enjoyed!