This watercolor is from a group of 47 pieces which includes landscapes from Emily Sargent’s travels, demonstrating the three main categories of her work: broad, loose washes of color that give a sense of glowing light and atmosphere; more thickly rendered studies of light, dappled in gardens or penetrating shadowy interiors; and copies of admired old masters. Emily was a watercolorist at a time when the technique was associated with female artists and amateurs. Acclaimed male artists, including her brother John Sargent, pursued the medium with success and brought greater attention to its possibilities. Watercolor nonetheless remained accessible to women who did not pursue formal study or attempt to compete in the commercial art world. Emily’s mother, a watercolorist herself, encouraged her in the arts and Emily served as a companion to her parents, as did many unmarried women of the time. She was close to her brother John as well. After 1900, she accompanied him on several of his journeys and began to embark on many of her own. Her voyages included visits to Spain and the Near East in 1900-01 and 1904; Spain in 1902 and 1903; Tunis in 1903; Venice in 1905, 1906, 1907, and 1908; Rome in 1907; Majorca in 1908; Corfu in 1909; Lucca in 1910; the Alps in 1910 and 1911; Lake Garda in 1913. She would continue this pattern for the rest of her life.

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