Boston: MFA, Boston Loves Impressionism

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Boston: MFA, John Singer Sargent Watercolors

Violet Sleeping, ca. 1907-1908, Brooklyn MuseumIt's always such a treat to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Remember this?

For me, it's a way to decompress, find inspiration and reflect on my work as a photographer. There's always so much to learn. With the MFA's newest exhibition of Johh Singer Sargent's Watercolors, it's the first time that his most significant collections of watercolors from both the MFA and the Brooklyn Museum have been exhibited together.

I invited some of my favorite ladies in Boston, Elizabeth S who I love to see at Neiman Marcus events, Elizabeth H who I recently dined with, Ana and Alaina who I often have tea with, to join me at the MFA. We were honored to get an inside look of Sargent's Watercolors from the MFA's own Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings, Art of the Americas, Erica Hirshler.

When I studied Art and Art History back at the University of Toronto, John Singer Sargent was always one of those painters who we looked to for his work in oils and always for his ability to capture LIGHT. I had never had the opportunity to view his watercolors in person, until now and they are beyond exquisite.

My favorite piece  "In Switzerland" dated to 1905 is of Sargent's friend Lawrence Harrison whose lanky frame barely fits the bed. The fore-shortened view adds to the interest of the painting, highlighting the shoes dangling off the bed frame.

Sargent's watercolors can be looked at as fragmented moments captured in time; little snapshots, all of which speak volumes of an artist ahead of his period. It's incredible to think that his works were created on moving gondolas, along the hillsides of the Alps, situated in middle eastern bedouin camps, even such challenging locales as the Carrara marble quarries in Lucca.

If only Sargent could have used Instagram....

Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings, Art of the Americas, Erica Hirshler, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Simplon Pass: Reading, about 1911, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Simplon Pass: Reading, about 1911, Museum of Fine Arts, BostonSimplon Pass: The Green Parasol, about 1911, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Gondoliers' Siesta, 1902-1903, Museum of Fine Arts, BostonBedouins, 1905-1906, Brooklyn Museum

Thank you to the Museum of Fine Arts for having us!

The Sargent Watercolor exhibit at the MFA is on now until January 20 2014, for tickets visit the MFA website.