Vue de montagne à Bormio
1869
Long before he was famous for painting Gilded Age socialites, a 13-year-old John Singer Sargent was already a prodigy with a brush. This watercolor, signed 'Bormio 69' in the corner, captures a sweeping Alpine valley during a family trip to Italy. Notice how the distant mountain glows in soft pinks and purples—a beautiful example of alpenglow that shows his early mastery of light and atmosphere, skills he would later use to make silk dresses shimmer in his portraits.
- Technique
- Watercolor
- Material
- Paper