John Singer Sargent was simply the most successful portraitist of his days at the end of the 19C and the beginning of the 20C. He lived in Italy, Paris and London. He travelled widely From to Venice to the Tyrol. Corfu on the European Mediterranean coast. He visited Morocco, Tangiers and Egypt on the North African coast. He even ventured into Lebanon, Syria and the Holyland. In American he went to Montana, Maine, Florida, Boston, New York, Washington DC etc. He was fluent in French, Italian and some German. He was well read in European literature, an accomplished pianist and a passionately keen musician. Henry James, the American writer who lived in Europe describe Sargent as being ‘civilized to his fingertips’. He knew personally many of the artists, performers and painters of his days, including the giants like Degas, Rodin, Monet and Whistler. Technically Sargent belong to the same line of portraitists like the Velazquez, Frans Hals and van Dyck, all of them committed their paint quickly onto the canvas. You will be amazed on close inspection of their paintings how spontaneous the paints were applied. Sargent like the Impressionists also a practitioner of painting in the ourdoor. This is particularly true with his watercolours, which were often a record of what he had seen. In his later life Sargent was mainly painting for the enjoyment of himself, as an observer. This was true when he was appointed as the War Artist in World War One. For comparison with his peers, I think it is interesting to compare him with the works of John Frederick Lewis, the orientalist, who also painted in oil as well as watercolour. Sargent and Van Gogh were born a few years apart and their career were developed in different direction regards to their career, style and technique. But both of them painted in the ‘open air’ (plein-air), as well. Sargent was sympathetic to the called of the Impressionists. He even used some of the technique but was never fully converted. Personally, I think Sargent is one of the finest artists of his time, and he knew it too.

1. John Singer Sargent
The most celebrated American portraitist
First created 20 Jul 2015. Version 1.0 11 August 2015 Jerry Tse. London.
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2. Sargent was the greatest and most
successful society portraitist of his time,
painting the rich and famous with an
elegance and flair that no contemporary
artist could match.
Greatest portraitist
of his time
An essentially shy and private man, he
was charming and accomplished and,
although he never married, was devoted
to his family and circle of friends.
His natural fluency and the brilliant
accuracy of his portraits brought him
outstanding success in America and
England.
1856-1925

3. An American, born and raised in Europe
John Singer Sargent was born in
Florence, Italy, in 1856. His
childhood was spent travelling
from one European city to another.
Sargent’s mother, Mary Singer (left). John Sargent with his sister Emily (right),
who was born in Rome, 1857. John was particular devoted to Emily.
John Sargent had a wide-ranging
education but very little formal
tuition.
He grew up to be a highly literate
and cosmopolitan young man,
accomplished in art, music and
literature. He was fluent in French,
Italian and German.
He was also a highly accomplished
pianist of professional standard
and a passionately keen musician.

4. At the age of 13, he received some watercolour
lessons from Carl Welsch, a German landscape
painter. His mother commented that John
“sketches quite nicely & has a remarkably quick
and correct eye. If we could afford to give him
really good lessons, he would soon be quite a
little artist.”
Early talent at 14
At 17 he was described as “wilful, curious,
determined and strong” (after her mother yet
shy, generous and modest (after his father).
A noticeable quality of his early letters and
drawings is the desire to describe his
observations accurately.

5. Sargent joined the atelier of Carolus Duran at 18 (1874-78). Paris had tens of atelier academies, in which a group of
students worked with a single master concentrating on drawing and printing from a living model.
Atelier Academy at 18

6. His teacher Carolus Duran

7. His teacher’s style

8. Julian Alden Weir, a fellow American studied
in France, met Sargent 1874 and noted that
Sargent was “one of the most talented fellows
I have ever come across, his drawings are like
the old masters, and his colour is equally fine.
Sargent’s excellent command of French and
his superior talent made him both popular and
admired.”
Sargent was considered by everyone who
knew him to be modest, charming,
accomplished and a lively and generous
companion.
In 1876, Sargent crossed the Atlantic for the
first time and visited America.
First painting at the Paris Salon

9. At Cancale in Brittany in 1877, Sargent did ‘plein air’ sketches for his first important subject picture, Oyster
Gatherers at Cancale. It was to be his first success, winning him an honourable mention at the Paris Salon of 1878
and reflected the artist’s interest in the Impressionists. His second copy of the painting was sent to the US for
exhibition and was also a success. He was now professional artist
First major success

10. In 1879, he visited Spain, studied Velazquez’s painting technique, with passion. Spain re-awakened
his own talent for music and which found visual expression in his El Jaleo.
The inspiration of Spain

11. Later in life Marie-
Louise (girl in the
painting) recounted
no few than 83
sittings for the
portrait. It is an
uneasy double
portrait with Marie’s
hand quenched in
fist, trying to sit still.
Marie also mentioned
battle about
costume and hair
arrangement. Note
the abstract
background.
A tense double portrait

12. A follower of Velazquez
Sargent (left) method of working directly on the canvas with a loaded brush, derived from Velazquez (right). It was an
approach that relied on the proper placement of tones of paint. This approach permitted spontaneous flourishes of colour
not bound to an under-drawing. Note how the clothing were painted on the two portraits.

13. This unusual composition, including two large Chinese vases, with striking lighting effect, echoes an interior
Velazquez’s Las Meninas (see next slide).
Velazquez’s interior

14. On the left is Velazquez's Las Meninas. Frans Hals (right) was the artist who, other than Velazquez had a profound effect
on Sargent. When visited Haarlem in 1880 and Sargent was stunned by Hals’s expressiveness, his verve and bravura and
the economy of his brushwork.
Velazquez and Fran Hals

15. A flamboyant gynaecologist
Like Velazquez
Sargent’s best
portraits reveal the
individuality and
personality of the
sitter.

16. “Mrs Henry White” was his first major success,
winning more portrait commissions.
The First major commission

17. Madame Gautreau, also an American, was a fashionable Parisian
beauty. Sargent proposed if she would sit for her portrait. She
accepted. Sargent was convinced that her portrait would establish
his reputation and bring more commission.
Madame X was exhibited at the Salon in 1884. It caused a scandal,
due to a shoulder strap had fallen down from her shoulder.
The poor public and critical reception was a disappointment to both
artist and model. Gautreau was humiliated by the affair and Sargent
would soon leave Paris and move to London permanently. He also
repainted the portrait with the strap firmly fastened.
Madame X, a small miscalculation

18. Move to London

19. Winning new commissions in England
Initially, the English critics were not warm at first, describing Mrs Henry White as ‘almost metallic’, ‘ no taste in expression,
air or modelling’. But soon afterward, Sargent gained the admiration of English patrons and critics.

20. Sargent developed a realistic, traditional style, but he was also touched by the spirit of Impressionism. This painting shows
some Monetesque associations. It shows Monet’s loose style of brushwork and his impression of a scene en plein air.
Friend with Monet

21. Sargent had probably met Monet as early as 1876.
In 1880s when they seem to have become closer.
Sargent visited Giverny, bought four of his
paintings and painted three portraits of Monet.
A portrait of Monet

22. Broadway, Cotswolds, an
American artist colony
Sargent first visit to Broadway in the
Cotswolds England, in 1885. It was there
that he made friends with a group of
American artists. He painted the painting
Carnation Lily, Lily, Rose, in Broadway.
Lily Millet (left), wife of the American artist Frank
Millet, was at the centre of the community of
artists and writers at Broadway.

23. The making of a masterpiece
In 1884, Sargent stayed with the Vickers family
and painted the two children watering the tall
lilies. This seeded the idea of a painting of
children surrounded by flowers, in his Carnation,
Lily, Lily, Rose.
In 1885 on a boat trip, Sargent saw two little girls
lighting paper lanterns at dusk in a garden.

24. In 1885, he made this study of this young girl
with a paper lantern, with some roses in the
background, perhaps trying out the posture
and the lighting from the lantern.
- Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
The making of a masterpiece
In Giverny, Sargent also saw Monet painting
outdoor recording the different quality of natural
lights.

25. The picture was painted in
the autumns of 1885 and
1865 at Broadway, in the
Cotswolds.
The two girls were Polly and
Dorothy Barnard, daughters
of Frederick Barnard, the
painters.
They were chosen for their
fair hair that complimented
the glowing warm light from
the lantern, in contrast to the
fading natural light at dusk.
They posed for Sargent with
their specially made white
dresses.
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

26. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
Camille Mauclair described this painting as
‘an exquisite symphony’ and Vernon Lee
wrote that ‘of any pictures ever painted’ it
gave her ‘the same artistic happiness as the
slow movement of certain Mozart quartets’.
The carnation, lily and rose was a reference
to the Renaissance painter of Botticelli,
Crivelli and Mantegna. Lily was ideal beauty.
The roses were transplanted and the lilies
were planted in pots, to provide the
appearance of a luxuriant background.
The painting was painted entirely in the open
and at twilight. The short duration of the
twilight meant that the canvas was
completed over many days, with the girls
standing by ready in their white dresses each
evening, when the particular light to appear.
Sargent complained that on “impossible
brilliant colours of flowers and lamps, the
brightest green lawn background. Paints are
not bright enough.”
This painting was his first major success in
the Royal Academy 1887.

27. Through his friendship with Paul Cesar Hellen,
Sargent would meet gaints of the art world
including Degas, Rodin, Monet and Whistler.
A very high proportion of Sargent’s non-
commissioned paintings were about artists and
performers. This one is on the actress Ellen
Terry. He decided to paint her portrait after his
was bowled over by her performance.
Portrait of an actress

28. Portrait of Javanese Dancer

29. Portrait of Spanish Dancer

30. In 1890s Sargent was at the peak of
his fame and reputation. Lady Agnew
was exhibited at the Royal Academy in
1893 and was hailed as a masterpiece.
He became the artist sought after by
the nouveaux riches.
Towards the end of the 1890s, Sargent
was recognized as the supreme
portrait painter of his age. Rodin
called him ‘the Van Dyck of our times’.
Lady Agnew
The Society Painter

31. Growing reputation in
America too
In 1907, Sargent refused to relinquish his
American citizenship, when he was offered a
knighthood, in England.
He painted two US presidents (Theodore
Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson) and even
John D Rockefeller.
In America, Sargent fame and reputation
grew too. His first professional trip to New
York and Boston bought him over 20
important commission.

32. Portrait of a comic actor.
Sargent also painted many artists and
performers too in America.

33. In 1886 he sailed to America invited by the
art collector Henry Marquand, to paint his
wife. America welcomed him with open
arms. His one-man exhibition at the St
Botoph Club in Boston was greeted with
rapture. Prestigious portrait commissions
flooded in. Discussion began about the
project of mural decorations for the
Boston Public Library.
The Boston Mural
1890-1919
The Boston murals, first at the Public
Library and later as the Museum of Fine
Arts, preoccupied him from about 1891
until 1921. However the murals lack
passion and imaginative conviction
In the mural , Sargent moved to a more
formal style of painting, in the ‘grand
manner’ of Reynolds, classical settings
and aiming to create a timeless quality.

34. The Boston Mural

35. Abandons
portraiture 1909
To Lady Radnor, he wrote in an uncompromising
tone, “Ask me to paint your gates, your fences,
your barns, which I should gladly do but not the
human face!”
By 1907 he was refusing all but a few
commissions. His only concession was
charcoal sketch, which he could draw rapidly in
a brief sitting.
Sargent said “Painting a portrait would be quite
amusing if one were not forced to talk while
working … What a nuisance having to entertain
the sitter and to look happy when one feels
wretched”.

36. Charcoal portraits at $400 each

37. Watercolour Years
Sargent’s watercolour paintings are different from his oil painting, in that he was not under any obligations for the
business needs. These watercolours reveal a more inquisitive personality, more freedom and vivid in execution.

38. Looking for inspiration in the
Middle East
Sargent travelled widely. He travilled to Morocco
and Tangiers in 1879-80 and to Egypt in 1890-91.

39. An Encounter with Bedouins
Sargent spent 5 months in 1905 through to 1906 travelling in the Ottoman Levant. He undertook the trip at least to
search for ideas for the Boston murals.

40. Portrait of the Homeless
Sargent painted some 2000 watercolours. Many of these were scenes in his travel.

41. In the Villa Gardens

42. In the Swamp

43. In the Alpine Summers with friends

44. In Alpine Landscape
In his later work, Sargent painted mainly for himself and return to his fondness of nature.

45. In 1918 he was asked by the British Government to be an official war artist. It was his painting of a
group of men blinded by mustard gas that became his masterpiece as a war artist.
As a war artist, Sargent showed a remarkable fearless when under direct fire, but he remained at
one remove from the horror emotionally, his obsession with observing what he saw with the eyes of
a painter in its way protecting him from the full impact.
As a War Artist 1919

46. In the face of the war

47. Friend in Switzerland
Sargent painted side by side with Italian artist Ambrogio Raffele, who he admired.

48. Last Outdoor Painting
1925 Sargent died in his sleep, a day before his travel to Boston to finish the last panel for the Boston Mural.

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Available free for non-commercial and personal use.
The
End
Music – Yo-Yo Ma Meditation from
Thais composed by Jules Massenet

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