A painting of three male musicians, two playing guitars, and one clapping.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Three men are seated in a row, wearing dark-colored hats, white shirts, and dark jackets and pants. The man in the center has a black and red cape draped over his shoulders. The men at center and right are playing guitars, and looking down at their instruments. The man on the left has his head raised and his hands are elevated by his left shoulder, in a clapping motion. The form of their bodies is expressive from the waist down, their legs created from gestured strokes.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.153
People
John Singer Sargent, American (Florence, Italy 1856 - 1925 London, England)
Title
Study for Seated Musicians for "El Jaleo"
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1882
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/230328

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
61.3 x 81.1 cm (24 1/8 x 31 15/16 in.)
framed: 77.5 x 97.2 x 7.6 cm (30 1/2 x 38 1/4 x 3 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Gift of the artist to Jules François Gabriel Renaudot, Paris; to his wife, Mme. Renaudot (at his death?); her sale, Christie's, London, June 24, 1927, lot 83; purchased by Leslie Milne or Mulne, London; sold at Christie's London, June 27, 1931, lot 93; Gooden and Fox, London; Scott and Fowles, New York; purchased by Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, 1932 [Winthrop paid $3000]; his bequest to the Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.153
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Descriptions

Description
The Harvard Art Museum owns a number of drawings by Sargent relating to this theme, including 1937.8.2, 1937.8.12 (pen and wash sketches of dancer with seated figures), and 1937.8.22, a version of the figure at the left of this composition. The finished painting is at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

Publication History

  • Evan Charteris, John Sargent, Charles Scribner's Sons (New York, NY, 1927), p. 282
  • Martin Birnbaum, John Singer Sargent, January 12, 1856-April 15, 1925: A Conversation, William E. Rudge's Sons (New York, NY, 1941), p. 57, repr. in b/w
  • Charles Merrill Mount, John Singer Sargent: A Biography, W. W. Norton & Company (New York, NY, 1955), no. K8222
  • Richard Ormond, "Sargent's El Jaleo", Fenway Court, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, MA, 1970), p. 15
  • Richard Ormond, John Singer Sargent: Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Harper & Row (New York, NY and London, England, 1970), p. 238
  • Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, Peter G. Huenink, Earl A. Powell III, Harry Z. Rand, and Nanette C. Sexton, American Art at Harvard, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1972), cat. 115, ill.
  • John Singer Sargent, His Own Work, exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery, Inc. (New York, NY, 1980), in checklist, unpaginated
  • Mary Crawford Volk, John Singer Sargent's El Jaleo, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C, 1992), catalogue no. 48, p. 188, reproduced in color p. 189
  • Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1874-1882, Yale University Press (New Haven and London, 2006), no. 774, repr.; p. 268, no. 5
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 298-99, cat. no. 316, reproduced in color, p. 299

Exhibition History

  • American Art at Harvard, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/19/1972 - 06/18/1972
  • For Students of Art and Lovers of Beauty: Highlights from the Collection of Grenville L. Winthrop, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/16/2004
  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/28/2016 - 10/25/2016

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu