Sargent, John Singer
(1856-1925)
An expatriate American, he showed remarkable technical precocity
as a painter. After studying with Carolus-Duran, he achieved
a great reputation for his portraits, employing a style that
could be seen as derived from
Velázquez
by way of
Manet.
Moving in the circle of the
Impressionists,
he came to know most of them, and they reacted to his work in varying
ways.
Degas,
as might have been expected, was brutally dismissive;
Pissarro,
in sending his son to see him in London, where Sargent spent
the major part of his working life, described him as
`an adroit performer'; but with
Monet
he had a close and mutually profitable relationship.
In the 1880s he began to paint landscapes that were overtly
Impressionist in technique and approach, despite a certain
superficiality. At this time he visited Monet at Giverny
on several occasions, painting two memorable portraits of him:
Claude Monet Painting at the Edge of a Wood
(c.1885; Tate Gallery, London) and
Claude Monet in his Bateau-Atelier
(1887; National Gallery of Art, Washington).
Although Monet was later to deny that Sargent was an Impressionist,
this was unjust, especially in relation to some of his works
in the 1880s and 1890s.
Indeed, Sargent's technique for painting large canvases out of doors,
as evinced in
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
(1885-86; Tate Gallery, London),
was to be of use to Monet in his larger compositions.
Sargent persuaded Monet to exhibit at the New English Art Club,
and at the Leicester Galleries in London.
Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears
1899 (110 Kb); Oil on canvas, 147.6 x 96.8 cm (58 1/8 x 38 1/8 in);
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
In a Hayloft
c.1904-1907; Brooklyn Museum; (100 Kb)
Fellow artists Raffaelli and Pollonera sheltering from rain in a hayloft.
In a Medici Villa
1907; Brooklyn Museum
A fountain on a sunny day. Typical light and shadow.
Boboli
1907; purchased by the Brooklyn Museum in 1909;
The title refers to gardens in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence
(thanks to Alexis Huxley)
Claude Monet Painting at the Edge of a Wood