...mainly I saw other people's backs, heads, and feet. After making my way through the maze of cell phone camera snapping crowds I found myself pushed out the other side,head spinning, and in search of a peaceful spot. I walked through the glass doors of the wonderful America's Wing to be greeted by John Singer Sargent's "Daughter's of Edward Boit" --
... their sadness, and my knowledge of their tragedies, didn't help my mood, but as I turned the corner I stopped. The gallery was quiet and cool and the work that pulled me toward it changed my day and transported me to a summer garden at twilight.
"Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose", the title taken from a popular song of the time, is perhaps one of Sargent's best known works. The painting resides at the Tate Gallery but the MFA has a study of Dorothy Barnard one of the two sisters portrayed in the full work. It is this study that I have always loved best. The wonderment on this young girl's face, the quiet stillness as she lights the lantern,the exquisite glow that lights the whole work against the coolness of the gardens. It captures the joy of a child's summer, the magic of a summer's eve, and the wonderful innocence that only a child can bring forth. I never grow tired of seeing it, its like visiting a fairytale, but on this day it was as if I was seeing it for the first time. Come Visit A Well Appointed Life
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