1878, John Singer Sargent, Capri Girl on a Rooftop -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: During his visit to Capri, Italy, in summer 1878, Sargent befriended a congenial group of artists. One friend, English painter Frank Hyde, later recalled how they hosted parties at their rented residence where local women performed "tarantellas on the flat roof..... We watched the effect of the graceful figures, silhouetted against the fading twilight, and, for a background, Vesuvius with his dark purple mantel and crown of fire." The painting exemplifies Sargent's fascination with the distinctive architecture of Capri as well as his interest in music and dance and the effects of transitory light. The representation of the dancers' expressive gestures would become a lifelong theme of his art.
1878, John Singer Sargent, Capri Girl on a Rooftop -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: During his visit to Capri, Italy, in summer 1878, Sargent befriended a congenial group of artists. One friend, English painter Frank Hyde, later recalled how they hosted parties at their rented residence where local women performed "tarantellas on the flat roof..... We watched the effect of the graceful figures, silhouetted against the fading twilight, and, for a background, Vesuvius with his dark purple mantel and crown of fire." The painting exemplifies Sargent's fascination with the distinctive architecture of Capri as well as his interest in music and dance and the effects of transitory light. The representation of the dancers' expressive gestures would become a lifelong theme of his art.