Motorcycle [verso]

1918

John Singer Sargent

Associated Names
John Singer Sargent
Artist, American, 1856 - 1925
This is a drawing of a bicycle. The drawing is executed in a simple, minimalist style using a series of light pencil lines. The focus appears to be on depicting the front view of the bicycle, emphasizing elements such as the handlebars, the front wheel, and the front fork. The lines are light and sketchy, giving the drawing a spontaneous and fluid feel. The drawing is presented on a plain, neutral-colored background.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

Associated Artworks

The artwork is a pencil sketch on paper, featuring a frontal view of a motorcycle. The composition is vertically oriented, showcasing the motorcycle's handlebars extending horizontally across the top of the drawing. The central focus is the large circular headlight, drawn with simple lines and shading. The front tire is depicted with detailed crosshatching and is positioned at the center bottom of the image, leading down to a sketched shadow on the ground. Light annotations are visible, and the artist's signature and date, "Peronne Oct 1918," are inscribed at the lower left corner. The sketch shows the mechanical elements with minimalistic, fluid lines.

Motorcycle [recto]

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

Bibliography

1983

  • Nygren, Edward J. John Singer Sargent: Drawings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1983, p. 98, no. 85.

  • 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. 112, no. 747.

Wikidata ID

Q64584119

You may be interested in

You may be interested in