John Singer Sargent, “Study of Seated Man”, 1895, Lithograph in Black on Laid Paper, Image 29.4 x 21.8 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
In October of 1895 in Paris, Galerie Rapp, located on the Champ de Mars, organized one section of a large exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts that marked the hundredth anniversary of 
the invention of lithography by Aloys Senefelder. The British printer Frederick Goulding, who had developed an improved transfer paper for lithography, was involved in the show. He encouraged John Singer Sargent and other London artists to participate, even offering to supply them with materials and print their work.
Sargent created six lithographs at this time. Of these, he selected “Study of Seated Man” for the Paris exhibition, which moved in November to the Rembrandt Gallery in London. This print demonstrates Sargent’s progressive engagement with tone. To form the strong highlights falling across the sitter’s shoulders and among the drapery folds, he left portions of the paper in reserve, a technique also seen in his brilliant handling of watercolor.
Lithographs of John Singer Sargent’s “Study of Seated Man” are contained in the collections of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.
Insert Image: James E. Purdy, “John Singer Sargent”, 1903, Sepia Matte Print on Card Mount, 14.1 x 9.9 cm, National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC