Javanese Dancers Sketchbook

John Singer Sargent American

Not on view

Sargent created oil studies of the Javanese dancers he saw at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. The freedom of execution of those paintings reflects Sargent's diligence in recording the dancers in actual performance. Across the pages of this sketchbook, he concentrates on details of their costumes and jewelry, the swirl of their skirts as they moved, and the hand and foot gestures specific to their dance. The spectacle of their exotic appearance and the technical aspects of their rarefied symbolic dance clearly intrigued Sargent.

Javanese Dancers Sketchbook, John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London), Cardboard covered with beige canvas (cover); Graphite on off-white wove paper, American

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Javanese Dancers Sketchbook, John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London), Cardboard covered with beige canvas (cover); Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Javanese Dancers Sketchbook, John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London), Cardboard covered with beige canvas (cover); Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Javanese Dancers Sketchbook, John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London), Cardboard covered with beige canvas (cover); Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Javanese Dancers Sketchbook, John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London), Cardboard covered with beige canvas (cover); Graphite on off-white wove paper, American

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