Near June Street, Worcester, Massachusetts

Near June Street provides an example of the ease and joy that Sargent could bring to his subject, as well as the influences he had absorbed in his association with the works of the Old Masters as well as his contemporaries. His use of light was very much a product of contact with the Impressionists in France, in particular Claude Monet with whom he maintained a close relationship. But his brushstrokes do not break down in the same fashion of many of that group. By painting plein air Sargent adhered to the practices of the Barbizon group as well as the Impressionists. The unusual rendering of a view, the sloping angles that defy the flatter more conventional landscape depiction, are another example of the experimental practices Sargent brought to his art. In fact many critic saw his work as being somewhat too experimental, a view that the public seemed to share. The contrast in his colors and the freedom of expression seen here stand in stark contrast to the more formal and structured work of his portraits. Landscape painting afforded him the opportunity to practice art for pleasure, and this painting is evidence of the personal affinity he had with the subject, as well as his painterly qualities.