Back To School

Grandchildren at This Summer's End

Summer is really coming to an end. Last night I was talking to one of my daughters who reminded me that her youngest would join her big sister in "school" next week. It took me aback. Of course, it is just pre-kindergarden, but how could that little baby be so old so soon? When I saw this photo of these sisters at the beach, I remembered another photo of older grandchildren at the beach taken nearly a decade ago.

These children in 21st-century settings are not as formal as those posed & painted over a century ago by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925); but beyond the clothing & settings, the difference is negligible no matter the surroundings, the decade, or the century. Each one just a fragile, precious life...

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Marian Madge Roller

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Frances Winifred Hill

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Portrait of a Child

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Dorothy Vickers

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Charlotte Cram

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Dorothy

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Jeanne Kieffer

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Teresa Gosse

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Cara Burch

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Helen Sears

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Village Children

John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). Young Girl Wearing a White Muslin Blouse.