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The San Diego Museum of Art Acquires Two Masterworks for its Permanent Collection

February 14, 2018 | In the Press

From BlouinArtInfo.com (http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2855961/the-san-diego-museum-of-art-acquires-two-masterworks-for-its)

The San Diego Museum of Art announced the acquisition of two outstanding paintings, “Nymph of the Spring,” ca. 1540, by Lucas Cranach the Younger and “Portrait of John Alfred Parsons Millet,” 1892, by John Singer Sargent for its permanent collection. Both these works fill important gaps in the Museum’s holdings, with the Sargent strengthening the already expansive collection of portraits, and the Cranach being the most important Northern Renaissance painting in the collection.

“Nymph of the Spring” by Lucas Cranach the Younger is an exceptionally well-preserved painting of a nude lying in a landscape, softly gazing at the viewer. The son of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), a well-known German Renaissance artist, Lucas the Younger (1515–1586) followed in his father’s footsteps. The two of them went on to become the greatest artistic proponents of the Reformation. It appears likely that the elder Cranach contributed some of the more delicate features of the female figure in this painting.

Roxana Velásquez, Maruja Baldwin Executive Director of The San Diego Museum of Art, said, “During the time of the Reformation, Cranach’s mythological scenes, like this one, were especially popular with his sophisticated patrons, when Humanism and the Italian Renaissance were beginning to reach Northern Europe through artists like Cranach. We hope this masterpiece, which is now the Museum’s most important Northern Renaissance work, will resonate with and inspire viewers for many years to come.”

The Museum has added John Singer Sargent’s (1856-1925) “Portrait of John Alfred Parsons Millet” to its outstanding collection of portraits, presenting the full story of portraiture and American art. This very personal portrait is exemplary of the artist’s skill and flair, capturing a young child, named after Sargent, caught in a playful, relaxed pose. Sargent was one of the first artists to represent children with their own personal qualities rather than more formally as small-scale adults.

Harvey White, President of the Board of Trustees, noted, “These two masterworks magnificently strengthen the Museum’s mission to inspire, educate, and cultivate curiosity through great works of art.”

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