Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, Sargent Plaque

In 1885, while Sargent was on a boating trip on the Thames, he saw what he described as "a paradisiac sight": two little girls lighting paper lanterns at dusk in a garden planted with roses. This vision was the direct inspiration for his monumental exhibition picture Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, painted during the late summer and autumn of 1885 and 1886 in Broadway. Sargent made numerous drawings and oil sketches in preparation for the composition and used a friend’s daughters for models.