Architectural
Sketch
of the Reform Club, London
John
Singer Sargent
-- American painter
Date?
(possibly 1884)
Fogg
Art Museum, Boston
Graphite
on off-white
wove paper
17.2
x 10.9 cm.,
actual
Gift
of Mrs. Francis
Ormond, 1937.8.128
Jpg: Sargent
at Harvard
The Reform Club in
London was started
around the time of the Reform Bill (1830- 32). The members consisted of
the Liberal members of the two Houses of Parliament and some
distinguished
members of the public. The club, itself was (and still is) located on
the
Pall Mall, between the Travellers' Club and the Canton Club. The
building
was built from designs by Charles Barry, R. A. with the central square
hallway, showing similarities to classical and Italian Renaissance
design.
In this case, the hallway or courtyard is covered by a glass roof to
protect
it from the wet English elements.
The first time
Sargent visited the
Reform Club was when Henry James invited him to a dinner there in 1884
to meet a number of prominent English artists.
The appeal of this
sketch for him
was probably of what he had seen in the south of Europe --
reminding
him of any number of similar courtyards he had visited over his travels
and what would show up in his art through Italy and Spain such as Hospital
at Granada.
Hospital
at Granada
Or on a more modest
scale: Moorish Courtyard
Moorish
Courtyard
and then, of
course, Study of Architecture Florence being only some examples.
Study
of Architecture Florence
In Sargent's
sketch, we apparently are looking across the open central hallway on
the
second level with interest to the Corinthian columns and the arched
door
openings.
Harvard doesn't
date the work and the only reference I could find of Sargent going
there
was at that dinner given by Henry James in 1884. I'm sure Sargent went
there later when he lived in London, but for the sake of narrative I'm
putting the sketch under 1884.
Notes:
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