Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood
Sargent's experimentation with different media and styles is evident in this painting, despite the fact that his watercolor work is usually associated with his later career when he was established as the top portraitist of the elite. Sargent's friendship with Monet developed during his student days at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and he visited Monet's home in Giverny multiple times during the 1880s. In this painting, Sargent employs Monet's en plein air technique to depict his friend painting nature directly outdoors, with Monet's wife Alice sitting patiently in the background.
While the image on Monet's easel shows a sky scene, Sargent focuses more on the two figures and the interplay of light on the grass and trees. This impressionistic style is quite different from Sargent's more realistic approach to portraiture. Nevertheless, the painting's exploration of the relationship between Monet and Alice exemplifies Sargent's strength as an artist, that of capturing the dynamics of human relationships in his works.
