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)
Madame Ramón Subercaseaux
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Charles Stuart Forbes
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Ramón Subercaseaux in a Gondola
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Eugenia Errazuriz
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Dr. Pozzi at Home
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Judith Gautier
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Judith Gautier (A Gust of Wind)
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Jacques-Emile Blanche
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Ernest-Ange Duez
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Garden Study of the Vickers Children
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Study for “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose”
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Self-Portrait
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
The Birthday Party (Fête Familiale)
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d’Hiver
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
A Dinner Table at Night
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
William Butler Yeats
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
La Carmencita Dancing
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
La Carmencita
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
A Javanese Dancing Girl
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Mrs. Charles Hunter
Detail
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Mrs. Hugh Hammersley
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Ada Rehan
Detail
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Isabella Stewart Gardner
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Mrs. Edward Darley Boit (Mary Louisa Cushing)
Detail
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Man and Trees, Florida
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Young Woman with a Black Skirt
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Group with Parasols (Siesta)
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
In a Garden, Corfu
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
In the Generalife
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Villa Torre Galli: the Loggia
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Sketching on the Giudecca, Venice
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
An Interior in Venice
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
An Artist in His Studio
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
The Master and His Pupils
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
The Sketchers
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Miss Eliza Wedgwood and Miss Sargent Sketching
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Photography Beth Horta for Sweet Sabelle.
3 Comments
Always inspiring seeing the world through your artist’s eye ! Thank you for sharing the beauty you see everywhere !
Thank you, dear Joy xo
The Birthday Party..what a sweet painted scene!