John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)

According to Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, "The hot tones of this parched landscape suggest that it may have been painted on [John Singer] Sargent's visit to the Near East in 1905-06. However...the location may be elsewhere in the Mediterranean region." (John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1900-1907, vol. VII, New Haven, Connecticut, 2012, p. 63) The work was gifted by Sargent's sisters to Sir Alec Martin of Christie's, London, to thank him for his assistance with the Sargent estate auction successfully held in those salerooms in 1925.