Study for "Hell"

1895–1919

The “Triumph of Religion” murals for the Boston Public Library

From 1895 through 1919, for almost thirty years, Sargent works on his largest-scale work, the mural decorations “Triumph of Religion” for the Boston Public Library, showing religion's progress from pagan superstition to the ascension of Christianity; he never completes the final mural of the cycle.

1905

His first major solo show of watercolours

In 1905 the Carfax Gallery in London holds Sargent's first major solo exhibition of watercolour works; in watercolours he is able to indulge his earliest artistic inclinations for nature, architecture, exotic peoples and noble mountain landscapes.

1907

Closes his portrait studio

In 1907, at the age of fifty-one, Sargent officially closes his studio, relieved: painting a portrait, he says, would be quite amusing if one were not forced to talk while working, entertaining the sitter and looking happy when one feels wretched.

1909

The Brooklyn Museum buys 83 watercolours

In 1909 Sargent exhibits eighty-six watercolours in New York City, eighty-three of which are bought by the Brooklyn Museum.

1916

Sells “Madame X” to the Metropolitan Museum

Sargent keeps “Madame X” prominently displayed in his London studio until he sells it in 1916 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, after moving to the United States and a few months after Gautreau's death.

1918

Commissioned as a war artist

On his return to England in 1918 after a visit to the United States Sargent is commissioned as a war artist by the British Ministry of Information; he depicts scenes from the Great War in his large painting “Gassed” and in many watercolours.