Side Street, Constantine, Algeria

Emily Sargent, a talented amateur watercolorist who trained informally alongside and with her older brother, John Singer Sargent, painted for pleasure rather than professional acclaim. She moved in the same cosmopolitan artistic circles as her famed sibling, and actively promoted his career. One of his most faithful sketching companions, she regularly accompanied him on his travels. Emily Sargent painted with greater frequency after 1900, often in the same locales where her brother created his most celebrated watercolors. Her accomplished watercolors demonstrate a bold approach to color and a tendency to experimentation, using a range of techniques. This intimately cropped view reflects her interest in rendering the rhythmic curves and counter-curves of local architectural features. According to an inscription on the back, it was painted in Constantine, Algeria.