Pollution along London’s Thames River, a major commercial thoroughfare since the reign of Henry VIII, led Victorian civic leaders to undertake extensive cleanup efforts. By the time John Singer Sargent painted upriver near Henley, the Thames had become a favorite venue for artists and writers. Following Claude Monet’s example, Sargent built himself a little studio boat, enabling him to paint views of the shore from a midstream vantage point. Here, a secluded backwater, overhung with sun-dappled branches, creates an enclosed green and leafy space. A splash of white pigments captures the barely distinguishable image of a woman reclining under an umbrella in a reddish brown punt. Sargent’s canvas echoes descriptions in the popular press of “the clear Thames bordered by its garden green.”