Mules and Ruins (1918)

"Mules and Ruins" (1918) is a work by John Singer Sargent. Background on Landscape: Painters have used landscape to study light, weather, season, and the relation between people and place. Landscape became an independent genre in European painting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, while in East Asia it had long been central to ink painting. About the period around 1918: Dada and Surrealism followed the First World War, the Bauhaus school was founded in 1919, and Art Deco became the fashionable decorative style of the 1920s and 1930s. The first decades of the twentieth century were a period of rapid experiment, with Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, and the first abstract painting appearing within a few years of each other. The catalogue places it in Landscape. The format is landscape.

On onlly.art "Mules and Ruins" is sold as a digital download (Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI). The files are delivered by email after payment, so nothing is shipped: you print locally, choosing the paper, size, and frame yourself. A landscape format suits wide, low wall spaces such as the stretch above a bed, mantel, or sideboard. Landscape scenes add depth and a sense of air to the room, helping the space feel more open and working especially well above a sofa, console, or desk. Before printing, compare the proportions of the file with your frame so that nothing important is cropped. Hang the print away from direct sunlight, which over the years can fade any printed colour. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size. Matte and fine-art papers reduce glare in bright rooms, while glossy papers give stronger contrast and deeper blacks.

American, 1856–1925

If you like the visual language of John Singer Sargent, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.