Soldiers in a Devastated Landscape [recto]

1918

John Singer Sargent

Associated Names
John Singer Sargent

Artist, American, 1856 - 1925

The image shows a pencil drawing split into two parts. The upper portion includes sparse, barren trees drawn with angular strokes, arranged on a slight rise suggesting a rural landscape. The lower part depicts figures riding in a horse-drawn wagon towards a village in the distance. The figures and wagon are outlined roughly, with sparse details. In the background, there are indistinct buildings and structures, creating a monochromatic composition using varying intensities of gray pencil.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Associated Artworks

The image features a pencil sketch of a landscape with trees. The composition shows a few trees scattered across a field, with the horizon positioned slightly above the center. The trees vary in size and detail, with some appearing as tall bare branches and others as smaller stumps. A detailed tree is depicted on the left, while the distant trees are sketched with lighter lines to create depth. The monochrome palette uses shades of pencil gray on cream-colored paper. The sketch is minimalistic and sparse, giving it a simple and unfinished look.

Devastated Trees [verso]

John Singer Sargent

1918

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Miss Emily Sargent and Mrs. Violet Sargent Ormond (sisters of the artist), Surrey, England; National Gallery (now known as the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, DC, 1929, left in storage at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1949; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1964

  • The Private World of John Singer Sargent, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, 1964-1965, no. 157, repro

1983

  • John Singer Sargent: Drawings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1983, p. 100, no. 87, repro

1999

  • "Sketch Everything and Keep Your Curiosity Fresh": Sargent Drawings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1999

2000

  • John Singer Sargent, Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 2000-2001

Bibliography

1983

  • Simmons, Linda Crocker and with the assistance of Adrianne J. Humphrey, et al. American Drawings, Watercolors, Pastels, and Collages in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1983: p. 113, no. 749.

Inscriptions

lower right in graphite: Bailleul Sept. / 1918; lower left in graphite by unknown hand: J.S.325

Wikidata ID

Q64584011

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