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Thistles

A work made of oil on canvas.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of oil on canvas.

Date:

1883–89

Artist:

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925)

About this artwork

Beginning in 1885, John Singer Sargent increasingly spent time painting outside, exploring the techniques and subjects of Impressionism, inspired by a growing friendship with Claude Monet. Executing this work in rural England (or possibly Nice in southern France), Sargent experimented with distinctly broken brushwork and a high-keyed palette. Thistles captures the tangled movement of the windblown plants in light and shadow. This landscape composition is remarkably abstract: the dynamic patterning of the thistles asserts the flatness of the picture plane more so than any sense of depth. Sargent continued painting en plein air throughout his life, a practice that provided needed respite from his busy schedule as an acclaimed portraitist.

Status

On View, Gallery 176

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

John Singer Sargent

Title

Thistles

Place

England (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1883–1889

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

55.9 × 71.8 cm (22 × 28 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Brooks McCormick

Reference Number

1996.446

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/145807/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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