(American, 1856-1925)
Two Tarpon, 1917, signed and dated lower left "John S Sargent 1917", watercolor and pencil on paper, 21 x 15-1/4 in. (sheet); gilt wood frame with linen mat, 27-1/2 x 21 in.

Lit: Ormond, R., & Kilmurray, E. (2016). John Singer Sargent. Figures and landscapes, 1914-1925: The complete paintings, Volume IX. New Haven: Yale University Press.; ill. #1841, p. 194.  

This watercolor is discussed at length in the chapter "Florida and Pocantico Hills, 1917".  Sargent spent "...almost three  months in Florida",  and caught the tarpon on a fishing trip near the Florida  Keys on a yacht belonging to Charles and James Deering.  A letter from Sargent discussing the "tarpon over six feet long, and weighing 140 pounds..." is quoted on page 162. 

Illustrated on p. 194 is Fig. 150, Two Tarpon, a pencil drawing of the same subject, in the permanent collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England (1530.2).  It is inscribed upper right "Harbor Key/Tarpons caught/April 16, 1917", also lower left "6 ft 10 inches long / weight 140 lbs" 

Also: Kennedy Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 2 (June 1969-April 1971), p. 150, ill. p. 121.

Exhibited: Boston 1921, no.55; Boston 1922, no. 7; Paris 1923, no. 32; Kennedy Gallery, New York, "American Masters: Paintings, Watercolors, Pastels and Drawings From the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries", 1969, no. 99 as "Fish". 

minimal fading, all edges taped to mat, board edges in good condition; frame with abrasion and gilt loss at left vertical edge, general wear commensurate with age