{"id":3400,"date":"2025-02-17T15:35:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T20:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/?p=3400"},"modified":"2025-02-17T16:13:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T21:13:02","slug":"john-singer-sargent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/john-singer-sargent\/","title":{"rendered":"John Singer Sargent Fig Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column3400_30d950-70{max-width:100%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal:not(.kb-section-md-dir-vertical)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column3400_30d950-70{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70{position:relative;}@media all and (min-width: 1025px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column3400_30d950-70{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-sm-dir-vertical:not(.kb-section-sm-dir-horizontal):not(.kb-section-sm-dir-specificity)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column3400_30d950-70{max-width:100%;-webkit-flex:1;flex:1;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.kadence-column3400_30d950-70 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column3400_30d950-70 mobile-section\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"774\" height=\"114\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png 774w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-300x44.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-768x113.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3400_acf893-38 .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3400_acf893-38 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3400_acf893-38 .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-3400_acf893-38\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>John Singer Sargent (1856\u20131925)<br><em>Study of a fig tree<\/em>, 1908<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil on canvas<br>McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection, 2022.18<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1535\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-fig.jpg\" alt=\"Study of a fig tree\" class=\"wp-image-3415\" style=\"width:1202px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-fig.jpg 1535w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-fig-300x235.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-fig-1024x801.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-fig-768x600.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1535px) 100vw, 1535px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong>Oliver Wunsch<\/strong><br>Assistant Professor, Art History<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/oliver-wunsch.jpg\" alt=\"Oliver Wunsch\" class=\"wp-image-3418\" style=\"width:78px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/oliver-wunsch.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/oliver-wunsch-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Painted in Majorca in 1908, this study is no simple botanical illustration. Green and yellow fig leaves undulate across the brown background, forming an almost abstract arabesque. Sargent had become increasingly interested in decorative abstraction while in Spain, where he admired the ornamental tilework present in Jewish and Islamic architecture.<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-mural-2-1024x604.jpg\" alt=\"The Messianic Era\" class=\"wp-image-3421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-mural-2-1024x604.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-mural-2-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-mural-2-768x453.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/sargent-mural-2.jpg 1356w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The Messianic Era<\/em>, 1916. Oil on canvas, Boston Public Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Sargent ultimately incorporated elements of this painting into a mural celebrating the emergence of Christianity,\u00a0<em>The Messianic Era<\/em>\u00a0(see image), which constituted part of his larger\u00a0<em>Triumph of Religion<\/em>\u00a0cycle in the Boston Public Library. He was planning\u00a0<em>The Messianic Era<\/em>\u00a0while in Spain in 1908, and he took advantage of the trip to capture Mediterranean foliage for his Boston mural.<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0In the final work, a cluster of fig leaves appears interlaced with pomegranate plants in the background, floating to the right of the blond and fair messiah. While Sargent was careful to examine authentic Mediterranean flora for the mural, he nonetheless adhered to period assumptions in deciding that Christ needed to have the features of a Northern European.<sup>3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal is-style-wide\" id=\"ub_divider_d313cc4f-3072-4d17-851c-6c0afb1deee4\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line is-style-wide\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>1. Sarah Cash,&nbsp;<em>Sargent and Spain<\/em>&nbsp;(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022), 107\u201311.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray,&nbsp;<em>John Singer Sargent: Complete Paintings<\/em>, vol. 8 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014), 73; Sally M. Promey,&nbsp;<em>Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent\u2019s \u201cTriumph of Religion\u201d at the Boston Public Library<\/em>&nbsp;(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), 343n95.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Sally M. Promey, \u201cSargent\u2019s Truncated Triumph: Art and Religion at the Boston Public Library, 1890\u20131925,\u201d&nbsp;<em>Art Bulletin<\/em>&nbsp;79, no. 2 (1997): 217\u201350, 244.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong>Gregory Fried<\/strong><br>Professor, Philosophy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/gregory-fried.jpg\" alt=\"Gregory Fried\" class=\"wp-image-3429\" style=\"width:78px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/gregory-fried.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/gregory-fried-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"527\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/mmex-527x1024.png\" alt=\"Madame X\" class=\"wp-image-3432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/mmex-527x1024.png 527w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/mmex-154x300.png 154w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/mmex.png 552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)<\/em>, 1883\u201384. Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/bolero.png\" alt=\"El Jaleo\" class=\"wp-image-3433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/bolero.png 800w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/bolero-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/bolero-768x519.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>El Jaleo<\/em>, 1882. Oil on canvas, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Compared to large-scale portraits like\u00a0<em>Madame X<\/em>\u00a0that secured Sargent\u2019s fame and success (see image), this painting of leaves on a fig tree in Majorca, Spain, in 1908, is a mere study. It appears free and uninhibited by any need to please a client. With a squint of the eyes, the composition seems a deliberately abstract study of color and shape, while at the same time, the impasto of the brushwork so richly evokes the leaves, like icing generously heaped with a knife onto a cake. Sargent therefore bridges the abstract and the utterly specific in this work, perhaps a metaphor for how he felt about Spain\u2014that he wanted to gobble up the country\u2019s forms, colors, sounds, and movements, as in his extraordinary\u00a0<em>El Jaleo<\/em>\u00a0(see image), a depiction of a Romani Spanish dancer ecstatically performing a flamenco dance to guitars, signing, and rapturous applause. But, in the fig leaves, he treats us to the very smells and tastes of a fig orchard, which we share with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3400_28c390-fc .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3400_28c390-fc .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3400_28c390-fc .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-3400_28c390-fc\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"383\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png\" alt=\"Logo Gold\" class=\"wp-image-2910\" style=\"width:569px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-768x287.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Singer Sargent (1856\u20131925)Study of a fig tree, 1908 Oil on canvasMcMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection, 2022.18 Oliver WunschAssistant Professor, Art History Painted in Majorca in 1908, this study is no simple botanical illustration. Green and yellow fig leaves undulate across the brown background, forming an almost [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"margaret-sandbox","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/author\/margaret-sandbox\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3400"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3440,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400\/revisions\/3440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}