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| Mabel Batten by Sargent |
Dear Art Lover,
John Singer Sargent surely inspired the way that female figures were
drawn on the fronts of sewing patterns… elongated figures, delicately slender
feet and waists, for example.
Do you see
it?
This first painting is one Sargent created of a
Mabel Batten, a popular amateur mezzo-soprano in her own time
(1857-1916).
She played the piano and
the guitar, composed her own songs, and was an arts and music patron.
Sargent captured her swept up in the emotion
of singing her own song.
He cropped his
painting to emphasize her posture, according to the sign next to the painting.
This next portrait from 1892 really impressed me as well.
In London, Sargent painted
Mary Frances Hammersley
(1863-1911).
He really captured her
personality in this painting and it led to his election into the
Royal Academy.
As the exhibition sign read, “One critic
enthused, ‘The head literally vibrates with life; never has the spirit of
conversation been more actually and vividly embodied.’”
Again, look closely at the genius of this portrait, from the great diagonal
of the colorful fabric coming up from the bottom left and leading the eye to
the sitter’s face in the upper center of the canvas to the paint handling of
lace and decoration on fabric to the plays of subtle purples cooling the
vibrant fuchsia color.
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| Slender feet and beautifully handled paint in this Sargent |
Now this detail of the Sargent portrait of
American actor Joseph Jefferson as Dr. Pangloss (1890) is just
plain fun.
The energy and intensity of
the gaze, and that HAIR!
Is this the
origin of a scary
Bozo the Clown?
I love the lavender swash stroke over the top
of the bald head.
It does help the face
launch towards us, does it not?
Many of the signs in this art exhibition explained that
John Singer Sargent bartered or outright gifted paintings to
friends.
Like most artists, Sargent was
friends with many other artists.
His
friend, sculptor
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
created a portrait in relief of Sargent’s sister Violet while playing a guitar.
In return Sargent painted this wonderful portrait of the sculptor’s son Homer
and wife Augusta.
I think he perfectly
captured the expression of a boy distracted while being read to.
I also love how the artist emphasizes the fidgety-ness of the boy by placing
a dull red outline around the twisted foot.
The strong color [as well as the highlights on the shiny black shoes] pulls
your eye down.
And yet the red is muted
enough that is never takes away from the boy’s face [the area of highest
contrast].
Along with the slouching
shoulders, one can easily feel the informality of the pose.
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| "Portrait of a Boy" by Sargent |
In the last image of this painting
Portrait of a Boy the book on the
mamma’s lap seems quite bright, but when you look again at the image of the
entire painting, I hope you can see that the book is not actually nearly as
bright as the subject:
the boy’s face.
I also enjoy how the cool tones in the book
contrast with warmer hands.
Still, this
area has an overall lower contrast and chroma as the main subject area.
All parts of the composition help to
emphasize the boy and his interest in …. You!
These Sargent artworks were on exhibition at The Met in New York City, but
it is over now.
Or perhaps it has moved
on to another city.
Peace,
Kelly
P.S.
Happy birthday to nieces Elyse and Erin.
~
Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher
In fact, while I was in Croatia this past winter, I made a copy of a Sargent
of a girl carrying onions. My work is a
pastel. She is available, so please
contact me if you may be interested.
