Fountain of Neptune

1902

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925)

Best known for his society portraits, John Singer Sargent was likewise adept at landscapes and architectural studies, practices that he increasingly pursued after 1900 in both oil and watercolor. Fountain of Neptune depicts a portion of the famous 16th-century fountain in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Painting his composition on site, en plein air, Sargent chose an up-close, truncated view of the sculpture, focusing not on the god of Neptune, but on the twisting, muscular bodies of other bronze figures adorning the fountain. The play of light on intricate surfaces of architecture and decoration is the composition’s principal subject.

Status: On View, Gallery 175
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: John Singer Sargent
Title: Fountain of Neptune
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
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.: 1902
Medium: Oil on board
Inscriptions: Signed, lower right: "John S. Sargent"; also signed on verso: "John S. Sargent"
Dimensions: 57.2 × 47.6 cm (22 1/2 × 18 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Anonymous loan
Reference Number: 313.1996

Judith A. Barter, et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2011), 80–82, cat. 38 (ill.).
Annelise K. Madsen, et al., John Singer Sargent and Chicago’s Gilded Age, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2018), 6,94–95, 204, cat. 28, fig. 63 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, John Singer Sargent and Chicago’s Gilded Age, July 1–Sept. 30, 2018, cat. 28.

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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.

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