John Singer Sargent is a talented artist of the period with the beautiful name “Belle epoque” dating from the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of 20, before the outbreak of the First World War. It was a wonderful time of calm for American art before the storm. It gave the world many wonderful artists and their pacified works. Many of Sargent’s oil paintings and watercolors can be seen in the online gallery johnsingersargent.org.
Childhood
Sargent’s life is diverse and varied. He was born in Florence in 1856 but always considered himself an American. His parents were expatriates. However, John himself didn’t see America until his 20s. His family was of average wealth but traveled a lot. He lived with his parents and sisters in Italy and France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. So, thanks to this he knew perfectly different languages and considered himself a cosmopolitan. From childhood, he showed interest in art, when his parents provided him with piano and dance teachers. He also loved to draw and his mother was sure he would become an artist. John Singer mastered the fine art in Florence and later in France. He was proud that he studied with the famous artist Charles Auguste Emile Carolus-Duran. He taught his students not to theoretically lay soil on canvas layer by layer. His manner was the spontaneous creation of portraits, capturing the light falling on the canvas, following the way the brush itself leads, in search of the necessary excesses and outlines.
Sargent’s classmates admired his talent and his paintings to be similar to the works of old masters of American art, with their perfect colors that evoke feelings. Sargent himself was extremely hard productive and, as his sister said, he worked like a dog from morning till night. Sargent’s works began to be exhibited in the modern art Salon of Paris.
Style and insight
Sargent knew how to create a sense of closeness and detachment of the sitter in the portrait. The faces conveyed liveliness, feelings, and secret messages of the author. Poses and costumes were often theatrical, which made it possible to emphasize the status and the inner life of the people posing for him. His portraits had their dramatic tonality. The strength inspired by his portraits made him a well-known and sought-after portrait painter at the age of 20. However, he did not flatter with his portraits. Even though the customers were famous people, Sargent always had his vision of the sitter and he put in the message that he wanted. Many were afraid to pose for him, believing that as soon as he begins to paint a portrait, the face of the posing person completely passes into the power of the artist.
Madame X
For example, the portrait of the secular lady Madame Pierre Gotro or Madame X, exhibited at the Salon in 1884, caused public outrage. Many criticized this image for the excessive frankness of the dress, too much of the naked flesh. In the original version of the portrait, there was a belt on the dress, which hung as if being worn in a hurry. After the comments of Madame herself, the artist changed the belt. However, it can be assumed that he wanted to reveal the publicity betrayal of this lady to his husband.
Friendship with Henry James
Living in Paris, Sargent met Henry James, who later became an admirer of the artist’s talent and even offered him to move to London. They had a lot in common. Being both bachelors – expatriates, without a noble origin, they made a lot of effort to make their way into social life. James was known to be chatty and sociable, while Sargent often seemed awkward and silent. They were interested in fashionable women and struggled with their difficult sexuality. They lived between England, France, and America and were mirror images of each other.
In his tales, James indirectly wrote about Sargent’s young years. From childhood, the hero of the story “The Apprentice” painted pictures, and his family lived whether in luxury or on the verge of poverty. In his other works, James also described the art of the adult Sargent as a genius.
French influence
Sargent admired the French painting of the Impressionists. He bought a painting by Claude Monet and Edouard Manet, with whom he made friends in the mid-1880s. Sargent tried to imitate their manner of working with light and shadow. However, his works were considered to be pre-impressionistic.
Degas spoke of him as a skilled portrait painter and the best salon artist of the time. Yet, his work was distinguished by conservatism inherited from Velazquez and Ingres. Degas described his paintings as the last generation of works with an ideally rich texture and striking sense of composition.
Sargent painted a portrait of Monet working in the open air. He also turned to the French painter for advice when he began experimenting with landscapes and figures, transferring them to the canvas from real light conditions. He wanted to use a new technique and palette. But these consultations only annoyed Monet, as French artists wanted to free his forms and tones of his paintings from complexity. Sargent made stunning portraits filled with luxurious virtuosity, thus continuing the traditions of his teachers.
Portrait of Henry James
Among the work of Sargent, there is also a portrait of Henry James depicting James’ restraint and his sensual intellect.
The hidden meaning behind the faces
The female images portrayed by Sargent were always immersed in luxury, perfectly dressed, and created a feeling of a calm and comfortable life. They can spread the shades of sexuality, but often it seems artificial. But, as opposed to female, male images always look like they radiate power and arrogance on their faces, and were born in their dandy costumes. Although judging by some portrait models, we can say that they are puzzled, even so, they seem to be representatives of the ruling class.
Art historians distinguish three portraits of Sargent, worthy of close attention.
The portrait of the artist Albert de Belleroche (1883) was kept in the author’s gallery throughout his life and hung in the dining room of his house. Belleroche demonstrates a sultry sexual presence, art critics say.
Albert de Belleroche
The painting of the singer George Henschel (1889) is softer and more gentle in its execution. Responding to comments that the artist could draw portraits of the dames of secular society, he retorted that he loved Henschel.
Portrait of the Singer George Henschel
The third portrait, more formal and staged, shows W. Graham Robertson (1894) as a young dandy. The atmosphere of detachment and obsession with beauty is read in this portrait. The image of Dorian Gray and his jacket was borrowed from this portrait.
W Graham Robertson
The idea of these portraits is clearly revealed in the book of Trevor Fairbrother about the life of a portraitist called John Singer Sargent: Sensualist. This book included reproductions of drawings of naked men. They were full of sensuality, intimacy, and as individual as the famous portraits of the author. The artist never showed these drawings anywhere in his lifetime. The Sargent family donated them to the Fogg Museum at Harvard.
In the light of these portraits, we take a fresh look at the paintings and images of Sargent, in an attempt to recognize the nature of the author himself. Yet, the fact that the author did not publish his male nude sketches can speak of his studies of secret nature. It is important to evaluate the work of a bright portrait painter in all aspects for a better understanding of his work and the personality of the author himself.
