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According to art historian Stephanie L. Herdrich, “Best known for his bravura society portraits and dazzling, sun-filled watercolors, the cosmopolitan American painter John Singer Sargent might seem an unlikely candidate to document the Great War. Yet, in summer 1918, the 62-year-old painter traveled to France and Belgium as an official war artist for Britain. At the time, he was one of the most esteemed painters of his day, widely recognized in the United States and Europe for his portraits and for his mural work at the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Having accepted a commission to commemorate the joint efforts of American and British troops for a proposed Hall of Remembrance, Sargent spent four months at the front, sketching and painting in watercolor as he grappled with how to convey the magnitude and loss of the devastating war in a monumental composition. On occasion, finding a discreet beauty in the military devastation and its influence on the landscape.

“Major Arthur N. Lee and Sargent became friends in France during the war, while Sargent traveled with the Major’s command. After the war, Sargent invited Lee to his studio to select a war picture from the series he completed in France, and Lee chose the present work. The majority of this series is in museums, with the largest concentrations in the Metropolitan Museum, New York and the Imperial War Museum, London.”

PROVENANCE
The artist, gifted to
Major Arthur N. Lee, 1919
Private collection, by descent
Sotheby’s, New York, New York, 1992
Private collection, Houston, Texas

Condition ReportAs viewed through glass. The paper appears to be in excellent condition.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.