In this canvas, Sargent has shown the hushed pensiveness of mood, the
perfection of sensitively modulated color of which his many-sided genius
is capable, but which it has, in fact, rarely attained to such a degree as
here. The subject of the painting is the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris at
twilight, with the moon rising above the trees. In the distance may be
seen the dome of the Pantheon. Various groups of figures lend the scene a
measured animation. The picture is hardly more than a sketch, but its
justness of values conveys an impression of reality which is
characteristic of the artist. Particularly attractive is the mellow tone
of the painting. The soft tawny grays of the foreground, the sombre green
of the thickly-massed trees; the note of rose in the woman’s costume, form
an exquisite harmony, accentuated by occasional touches of black. It was
presented by Sargent to his friend Charles Pollen McKim, the celebrated
architect, who died in 1909. It is signed, “To my friend McKim, John S.
Sargent.” A replica of this painting, in the John G. Johnson Collection,
is dated 1879.—The Martin B. Koon Memorial Collection.
[The White Bridge. John H. Twachtman, 1853-1902]