Paint Therapy: John Singer Sargent at The MET

Paint Therapy: John Singer Sargent at The MET

As we transition into fall and continue our best practices for safety and health with the raging coronavirus pandemic, I revisit the John Singer Sargent show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art June 30-October 4, 2015, Portraits of Artists and Friends. Sargent’s brushwork is captivating; smooth and lifelike, gestural and evocative. While he was masterful in capturing photographic likenesses in his portraits, there is something divine in his use of paint to capture light; the way it highlights fabric giving way to lush silks and velvets or satin or the flesh of a subject. Those subjects seem to jump off the canvas and appear as alive today nearly one hundred and forty years later.

My world is a dizzying treadmill of never-ending meals and constant care-taking of my family with two children in all-remote learning. I know this will pass and try to remember my gratitude for each moment that will be in my past all too soon. These paintings fill a little something for my spirit. The colors. The patterns. The movement of the brushstrokes. A canvas rich with paint from corner to corner or one that is left raw in patches, I am enchanted by them all.

The gathering of family around a table ablaze in color feels especially resonant during this time with gatherings on hold. And I am especially fond of the depictions of women artists at work. I hope you enjoy these dazzling works and can get lost in a colorful reverie that will bring some much needed light to these challenging days. I might linger a little longer as well. Until somebody yells, “Mom!” this is where I’ll be.

Marie Buloz Pailleron (Madame Édouard Pailleron)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1879 Medium: Oil on canvas

Madame Ramón Subercaseaux

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1880 Medium: Oil on canvas

Charles Stuart Forbes

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: ca. 1882 Medium: Oil on canvas

Ramón Subercaseaux in a Gondola

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1880 Medium: Oil on canvas

Eugenia Errazuriz

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1883 Medium: Oil on canvas

Dr. Pozzi at Home

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1881 Medium: Oil on canvas

Judith Gautier

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: ca. 1885 Medium: Oil on panel

Judith Gautier (A Gust of Wind)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1883 Medium: Oil on canvas

Jacques-Emile Blanche

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1886 Medium: Oil on canvas

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1883–84 Medium: Oil on canvas Accession Number: 16.53

Ernest-Ange Duez

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1884 Medium: Oil on canvas

Garden Study of the Vickers Children

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1884 Medium: Oil on canvas

Study for “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose”

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1885 Medium: Oil on canvas

Self-Portrait

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1886 Medium: Oil on canvas

The Birthday Party (Fête Familiale)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1887 Medium: Oil on canvas

Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d’Hiver

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1879–80 Medium: Oil on canvas

A Dinner Table at Night

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1884 Medium: Oil on canvas

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1889 Medium: Oil on canvas

William Butler Yeats

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1908 Medium: Charcoal on paper

La Carmencita Dancing

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1890 Medium: Oil on canvas

La Carmencita

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: ca. 1890 Medium: Oil on canvas

A Javanese Dancing Girl

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1889 Medium: Oil on canvas

Mrs. Charles Hunter

Detail

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1898 Medium: Oil on canvas

Mrs. Hugh Hammersley

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1892 Medium: Oil on canvas Accession Number: 1998.365

Ada Rehan

Detail

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1894–95 Medium: Oil on canvas Accession Number: 40.146

Isabella Stewart Gardner

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1888 Medium: Oil on canvas

Mrs. Edward Darley Boit (Mary Louisa Cushing)

Detail

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1887 Medium: Oil on canvas

Man and Trees, Florida

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1917 Medium: Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on white wove paper Accession Number: 50.130.59

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1883–84 Medium: Graphite on off-white wove paper Accession Number: 1970.47

Young Woman with a Black Skirt

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: early 1880s Medium: Watercolor and graphite on white wove paper Accession Number: 50.130.33

Group with Parasols (Siesta)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1904 Medium: Oil on canvas

In a Garden, Corfu

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1909 Medium: Oil on canvas

In the Generalife

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1912 Medium: Watercolor, wax crayon, and graphite on white wove paper Accession Number: 15.142.8

Villa Torre Galli: the Loggia

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1910 Medium: Oil on canvas

Sketching on the Giudecca, Venice

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1904 Medium: Watercolor on paper

An Interior in Venice

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1899 Medium: Oil on canvas

An Artist in His Studio

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1904 Medium: Oil on canvas

The Master and His Pupils

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1914 Medium: Oil on canvas

The Sketchers

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1913 Medium: Oil on canvas

Miss Eliza Wedgwood and Miss Sargent Sketching

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)

Date: 1908 Medium: Watercolour and gouache on paper

 

 

Photography Beth Horta for Sweet Sabelle.

 

3 Comments

  • by Joy Kennedy, post on | Reply

    Always inspiring seeing the world through your artist’s eye ! Thank you for sharing the beauty you see everywhere !

    • by sweetsabelle, post on | Reply

      Thank you, dear Joy xo

  • by Megan, post on | Reply

    The Birthday Party..what a sweet painted scene!

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