Muddy Alligators
1917 · Watercolour over graphite on paper · Worcester Art Museum
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About this work
- Artist
- John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)
- Year
- 1917
- Medium
- Watercolour over graphite on paper
- Original size
- 34.3 × 52.1 cm
- Collection
- Worcester Art Museum
- Movement
- Impressionism
A tangle of alligators lies basking in the mud at the edge of a pool, their pale, ridged backs painted in quick strokes of grey, blue and white beneath a screen of trees. Sargent made the watercolour in Florida in 1917, during a visit made to paint a portrait commission, and spent his free days sketching the alligators. It is one of his most celebrated late watercolours for its free, confident handling. The Worcester Art Museum bought it the same year.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A loose blue-grey and white watercolour for a study, office or bathroom in a thin black frame. It suits white, pale grey or sage walls at 18×12 and pairs with Sargent's Venetian Canal.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Impressionism painting
- Era
- 20th century (1917)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- bathroom, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 18×12. Prints at 18×12 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Muddy Alligators in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Muddy Alligators painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
