0069. Staircase in Capri

CornTown on March 13, 2010

Staircase in Capri
By John Singer Sargent
Circa. 1878
American Realism

In 1879, at age 23, Sargent painted a portrait of his teacher Carolus-Duran. The painting would go onto gain critical acclaim and public approval during its showing at the Paris Salon. Not only did it serve to show tribute to his teacher but also acted as an advertisement for portrait commissions. Of Sargent's early work, the author Henry James wrote that the artist offered 'the slightly “uncanny” spectacle of a talent which on the very threshold of its career has nothing more to learn.

Jacob “Corntown” Gray