One of Sargent's informal flower stubies paintied outdoors at Broadway. A small glass vase containing one white and two pink roses has been placed on a rush-seated chair in a garden. The shaded lawn is a rich, bright green flecked with small patches of yellow pigment where the sun has broken through. A patten of mauve/grey shadows desribes light striking the mesh work of the chair and defining its weave, and touches of green, blue and aquamarine sparkle on the glass. The picture is an object lesson in translating the effects of natural light reflected and deflected onto different surfaces and textures. It reflects a modern preoccupation; but the simplicity of the image, the decorative charm of the flowers and the old, worn chair contribute to a mood of pastoral nostalgia felt in a number of works of the period.
