Artwork
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist John Singer Sargent. It dates from 1907 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Overview
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy is an oil on canvas painting by American artist John Singer Sargent, dated 1907.
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy is an oil on canvas painting by American artist John Singer Sargent, dated 1907. Measuring 71.4 by 56.5 cm, the work depicts fellow artists Wilfrid and Jane Emmet de Glehn in the gardens of Villa Torlonia near Rome, and is held in the Art Institute of Chicago as part of the Friends of American Art Collection, with the reference number 1914.57. The painting occupies a significant position in Sargent's career, marking his decisive turn away from formal portraiture toward plein-air painting during a year widely recognized as a turning point in his practice.
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a double portrait of Sargent's friends and frequent traveling companions at work in a sunlit garden. Jane Emmet de Glehn sits in the foreground on a stone balustrade, turned toward her easel with brush and palette in hand, dressed in white with a pale blue veil around her hat. Behind her, Wilfrid de Glehn reclines partially in shadow, described by Jane herself as looking idle and good for nothing. A tall jet of water rises from the fountain between and behind them, framed by dense green foliage. The scene captures the interplay of artistic labor and leisure, with paint tubes and brushes resting on the balustrade beside the working artist. Jane's own words characterize the picture as most amusing and killingly funny, noting her worried expression as every painter should who isn't a perfect fool, says Sargent. The fountain's vertical cascade serves as both a natural backdrop and a symbolic counterpoint to the human activity, its transient spray echoing the fleeting effects the painters strive to capture.
History & Provenance
The painting was created in 1907 during Sargent's travels in Italy, when he sought rejuvenation away from his successful career as a portraitist. The Art Institute of Chicago acquired the work through the Friends of American Art Collection, and it bears the accession number 1914.57. The painting is currently on view in Gallery 273 within the Department of Arts of the Americas. A related charcoal drawing on wove paper, titled By the Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy and dated circa 1907, is held separately at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, with accession number 2015.19.709, that sheet measuring 33.97 by 24.77 cm. That drawing descended through Sargent's sisters before entering museum collections via the Corcoran's 2015 transfer.
Context
By 1907, Sargent was established as one of the leading portraitists of his generation, famed for society portraits in Paris, London, and New York. Yet between commissions he repeatedly sought renewal through travel, particularly to Italy, whose classical heritage and luminous Mediterranean light attracted countless artists. Villa Torlonia in Frascati, once a papal retreat known for grand fountains and grottos, offered an ideal setting for plein-air experimentation. Sargent's visit coincided with a broader revival of outdoor painting among European and American artists who, inspired by Impressionism, valued direct observation of changing light and atmosphere. The painting stands at the intersection of Sargent's portrait mastery and his lifelong fascination with landscape and light, representing his daring step away from conventional portraiture toward outdoor painting. The presence of professional artists as subjects, rather than society clients, signals this shift in priorities.
Legacy
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy has endured as a key document of Sargent's pivotal 1907 transition and as a testament to the social world of artists working en plein air in the Mediterranean. The painting's value is amplified by Jane Emmet de Glehn's contemporaneous letter describing the sittings, which provides rare firsthand commentary on Sargent's working methods and sense of humor. The work remains accessible to the public through its permanent display at the Art Institute of Chicago, where its presence in the Department of Arts of the Americas underscores Sargent's significance within American art history despite his expatriate life. The related drawing at the National Gallery of Art, with its documented exhibition history stretching from 1964 through 2010, attests to sustained scholarly and institutional interest in Sargent's Italian subjects. Together, the painting and its companion drawing preserve a moment when established artistic conventions gave way to spontaneous observation, capturing both the pleasures and the practical challenges, rain interruptions and all, of painting outdoors.
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Artist
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Belle Époque and Edwardian-era luxury.
- The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy
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