Art History Articles

Lesser Known Artists: John Singer Sargent

by Eric Tilden

January 12, 1856 to April 14, 1925

John Singer Sargent was born January 12, 1856, the son of a doctor from Philadelphia, was born in Florence, Italy and raised while traveling around Europe, never making a permanent home anywhere. This made him comfortable with the unknown, and he readily adapted to change in his life.

He was trained in Paris under Charles Auguste Emile Duran, in his studio-school. He trained his students to draw with the paintbrush, not to rely on under drawing as was the ‘accepted’ way of teaching at the time. He incorporated this technique and throughout his career, rather than drawing the image first, would use his paintbrush, working wet into wet and constructing the values perfectly to avoid retouching.

One of Sargent’s most controversial works, Madame X, appearing in the Salon of 1884, was a portrait of a Southern Socialite, who had moved from the southern United States and married a Parisian banker. During this time (the 1880’s) in Paris, adultery was very common and she was very indiscreet about her encounters. Sargent found her a very ideal looking woman, and had a great desire to paint her. When it was displayed, it caused an uproar, for one of her straps was hanging on her arm. At the time this was very scandalous and detestable. Sargent left Paris for England due to the negative response.

One of my favorite paintings is called Lady Agnew of Locknaw, painted in 1892-1893. What is striking about this pose is that it is atypical for its time. Most paintings of the era show woman either standing or sitting upright, and this one is rather modern, as the sitter is relaxed, sensual, and looking straight at the audience. The beautiful brushstrokes that make up the dress are very free and direct, showing only the movement of the material. The detail lies in the face, for it is very smooth and is clearly the focal point. Close inspection of the rest of the painting shows that it is rather Impressionistic.

John Singer Sargent was a contemporary of Monet, and incorporated a fair amount of influence from the Impressionists into his painting. He was highly regarded as one of the greatest portrait painters of his time by both the United States and Great Britain. After 1907, he stopped accepting commissions for portraits and spent more of his time traveling and painting landscapes. At the time of his death in 1925, he was working on a mural for the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University. He was 69 years old.

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