Leaving Constantinople (from Sketchbook)
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
5 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (13.3 x 21 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950
Accession Number
50.130.150kk recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
Mary Newbold Sargent's *Leaving Constantinople (from Sketch)*, created in 1904, a poignant moment of departure from the bustling Ottoman port city—now Istanbul—via a quick graphite sketch on paper. Measuring just 5¼ x 8¼ inches, this intimate drawing from her personal sketchbook evokes the romance of early 20th-century travel, with tags highlighting boats and landscapes suggesting a harborside vista of receding minarets, water, and distant shores glimpsed from a departing vessel. As an American, Sargent's work reflects the era's fascination with Eastern exoticism among Western travelers, pres...
About the Artist
Mary Newbold Sargent · 1826–1906
Mary Newbold Sargent (née Singer, 1826–1906) was born on April 24, 1826, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John Singer, a tanner and merchant, and Mary Smith Newbold. She married Dr. FitzWilliam Sargent, an eye surgeon, on June 27, 1850, in Philadelphia. The death of their first daughter, Mary Newbold Sargent (1851–1853), triggered a profound emotional crisis for Mary, prompting the family to aban...