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1880, John Singer Sargent, Ramón Subercaseaux in a Gondola -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)

From the museum label: Sargent met Chilean diplomat and aspiring artist Ramón Subercaseaux (1854-1937) in 1880 when he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Subercaseaux's wife, Amalia (shown in the next gallery). Amalia recalled that Sargent became "a real friend" and "was a man of very pleasant manners." Their friendship was long-lasting—the two artists even shared a studio in Venice for a short time in the early 1880s. In this candid and experimental sketch, Sargent recorded his friend at work in a gondola on a canal. According to Subercaseaux's son, at the same moment, Ramón was painting a watercolor portrait of Sargent (location unknown). Sargent contrasted the hazy, filtered glow of light inside the gondola with the sparkling water of the canal outside.

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Uploaded on May 4, 2025
Taken on May 4, 2025