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home > collections > art of the americas > john singer sargent and mural decoration
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| God of the sun and protector of the arts, Apollo is surrounded by the nine muses, who were responsible for inspiring poets, promoting the arts and sciences, and glorifying the greatness of Zeus and all the Greek heroes. Each muse presided over a specific discipline: Eloquence, Heroic Poetry, Lyric Poetry, the Flute, Tragedy, the Sacred Hymn, Dancing, Comedy,
and Astronomy. | | 
Timed to coincide with the opening of the newly renovated Huntington Entrance on the Avenue of the Arts, this installation sheds light on John Singer Sargent's extraordinary and ambitious mural programs for the Museum's Sargent Rotunda. Sargent, one of the most skillful and well-respected American artists of his day, created his decorative program for the dome and central rotunda of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, between 1917 and 1921. One of the MFA's greatest treasures--and one of the crowning achievements of Sargent's career--these paintings and decorative reliefs depict figures drawn from classical mythology. Including rarely seen preparatory drawings, related paintings, and a new interactive kiosk offering further context for Sargent's painted and sculpted designs, this installation encourages further understanding of the mural projects and invites visitors to see anew the Museum's magnificent Rotunda.
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John Singer Sargent and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Born in Italy to American parents, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) spent his career abroad, achieving international acclaim as a portrait painter for his virtuoso facility with the brush and his ability to capture the essence of his sitters' personalities. Yet Sargent grew disenchanted with portraiture and during the last thirty-five years of his life became deeply engaged with mural painting. Seeking a place in the firmament of great masters, Sargent combined painting, sculpture, and architecture in innovative ways for three mural projects in Boston and Cambridge: at the Boston Public Library (1891-1919); the Widener Library at Harvard University (1922); and here at the Museum of Fine Arts, in the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Rotunda (1921) and Colonnade (1925). Sargent's extensive travels throughout Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Italy provided inspiration for his mural designs. As he traveled, Sargent produced numerous drawings and oil sketches. The selection on view here helps reveal his creative process.
In 1916, the MFA's Trustees invited Sargent to decorate three lunettes in the Rotunda. Sargent offered a counter-proposal, suggesting that the Rotunda's coffered ceiling be redesigned to allow space for a program of sculptural reliefs representing various classical gods and heroes. Using a scale model, Sargent ultimately decided that the limited daylight coming through the oculus would compromise the reliefs' visibility from the floor. He did integrate some reliefs into his overall program for the Rotunda, but Sargent instead embarked upon a series of paintings for the space, which was unveiled to great fanfare in 1921, along with his designs for the surrounding balustrades and the casts of Venus and Minerva seen in the niches above.
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In-kind support for this exhibition was provided by Nielsen & Bainbridge.
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