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In a Hayloft

John Singer Sargent

American Art

The two figures nested in a half-lit hayloft are the Italian painters Ambrogio Raffele and Carlo Pollonera, whose camaraderie Sargent enjoyed during summer painting stints in Purtud, in 1904 and 1905. Sargent masterfully established their likenesses with the briefest means: layered passages of wash and selectively touched highlights that describe a confined raking light on their features. The figures are barely discernible within the broad washes of color—a mysterious effect enhanced by the scene’s overall greenish hue.
MEDIUM Translucent and opaque watercolor with graphite underdrawing
DATES 1904
DIMENSIONS 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) frame: 30 x 23 7/8 x 1 3/8 in. (76.2 x 60.6 x 3.5 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Partial watermark: "[W]HATMAN 1897"
SIGNATURE Unsigned
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 09.824
CREDIT LINE Purchased by Special Subscription
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION John Singer Sargent (American, born Italy, 1856–1925). In a Hayloft, 1904. Translucent and opaque watercolor with graphite underdrawing, 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription, 09.824 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 09.824_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 09.824_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2012
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