Collection
/
American Art

Sketchbook

John Singer Sargent

1 of 40

Object Label

Regarded as one of the leading portraitists and watercolorists of the Gilded Age, the expatriate John Singer Sargent was also a consummate draftsman. He drew prolifically and precociously from a young age, as evidenced by this sketchbook, which he used while traveling in Germany in 1871–72, at age fifteen. Sargent filled many of the pages with his exercises in copying classical statuary from the famous plaster cast collection of Dresden’s Albertinum museum. The sketches show a variety of approaches, from broad, linear strokes to refined tonal modeling.

Caption

John Singer Sargent (American, born Italy, 1856–1925). Sketchbook, 1871–1872. Graphite, charcoal, watercolor and white chalk on paper, Sketchbook: 9 3/16 x 11 7/8 x 1/2 in. (23.3 x 30.2 x 1.3 cm) Loose sheet - with watercolor of volcano: 3 5/8 x 4 7/8 in. (9.2 x 12.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Bronson Binger, 1996.231. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Sketchbook

Date

1871–1872

Medium

Graphite, charcoal, watercolor and white chalk on paper

Classification

Drawing

Dimensions

Sketchbook: 9 3/16 x 11 7/8 x 1/2 in. (23.3 x 30.2 x 1.3 cm) Loose sheet - with watercolor of volcano: 3 5/8 x 4 7/8 in. (9.2 x 12.4 cm)

Signatures

Signed on page 1, across top in graphite: "John Sargent 1871." and "John Sargent- / [Mu]nich"

Inscriptions

[see Description]

Markings

Bound sticker affixed to inside front cover, upper left: red sticker printed with, "SCHREIB-MAL & ZEICHNEN / MATERIALIEN / ADRIAN BRUGGER / 2. THEATINER STRASSE, 2 / MUNCHEN" Watermark on pages 1, 10, and 16: "DE CANSON FRERES / VIDALON-LES-ANNONAY"

Credit Line

Gift of Bronson Binger

Accession Number

1996.231

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Artists and makers

John Singer Sargent

54 works in the collection