Arab Gypsies in a Tent

John Singer Sargent

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Throughout his Bedouin subjects, Sargent relied primarily on the expressive power of the robed figures (women in blue tobs and men in white) animated by sharp, raking light. He consistently used the black tents as a broad compositional framework, both to exert control over the blazing desert light and to create the shallow pictorial spaces he preferred. Here Sargent also employed a more explicit and romanticized orientalist narrative that features a hooded Gypsy, whose tense hands, brilliantly sketched, hover over the round shape of a tray or bowl.

Caption

John Singer Sargent American, born Italy, 1856–1925. Arab Gypsies in a Tent, 1905–1906. Opaque and translucent watercolor with graphite underdrawing, 12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7 cm) frame: 23 7/8 x 29 15/16 x 1 5/16 in. (60.6 x 76 x 3.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription, 09.807. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 09.807_PS6.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Arab Gypsies in a Tent

Date

1905–1906

Medium

Opaque and translucent watercolor with graphite underdrawing

Classification

Watercolor

Dimensions

12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7 cm) frame: 23 7/8 x 29 15/16 x 1 5/16 in. (60.6 x 76 x 3.3 cm)

Credit Line

Purchased by Special Subscription

Accession Number

09.807

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

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