1891, John Singer Sargent, Egyptians Raising Water from the Nile -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: After receiving a commission to paint a monumental mural for the Boston Public Library, Sargent decided on an epic subject for his program—the history of religion—and traveled to biblical lands for inspiration. During a trip to Egypt in 1890-91, the artist sought to record aspects of life in the region that evoked the distant past. In this canvas, he depicted a man using a simple but ancient-irrigation device called a shaduf to fill a ditch with water from the Nile river. Sargent seems to have created this sketch quite quickly, using broad brushstrokes to record pose, gesture and sunlight.
1891, John Singer Sargent, Egyptians Raising Water from the Nile -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: After receiving a commission to paint a monumental mural for the Boston Public Library, Sargent decided on an epic subject for his program—the history of religion—and traveled to biblical lands for inspiration. During a trip to Egypt in 1890-91, the artist sought to record aspects of life in the region that evoked the distant past. In this canvas, he depicted a man using a simple but ancient-irrigation device called a shaduf to fill a ditch with water from the Nile river. Sargent seems to have created this sketch quite quickly, using broad brushstrokes to record pose, gesture and sunlight.