Ian and I made our annual trip to RA Summer Exhibition on Friday - more about that in another post. As I was a bit early, I thought I'd make use of my staff pass and complimentary entry to go to the 'Sargent and the Sea' exhibition that was also on there. Only knowing his work from 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose' ( not my cup of tea at all) I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, sufficiently to buy the catalogue! I particularly like the dynamic paintings of transatlantic voyages painted when he was in his 20's - you can tell he actually experienced the full force of an Atlantic gale !! There were extracts from his sketchbook from this time with detailed drawings of crew at work and ship's equipment - a fascinating record 
I was less struck by his paintings of fisherfolk in Cancale or small boys in Capri although some of them capture the light wonderfully
His pictures of ports and harbours and highly original watercolours painted towards the end of his life (especially those from Venice) were what really interested me - so immediate and atmospheric, helped by use of a close viewpoints and interesting compositions.
A pdf of education leaflet is available here.
I was less struck by his paintings of fisherfolk in Cancale or small boys in Capri although some of them capture the light wonderfully
His pictures of ports and harbours and highly original watercolours painted towards the end of his life (especially those from Venice) were what really interested me - so immediate and atmospheric, helped by use of a close viewpoints and interesting compositions.A pdf of education leaflet is available here.
Wow, amazing seas...I feel icky!...fabulous stuff. Thank you for pointing his work out to me as I was unaware of it. Love the movement and drama.
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