ILT students,
Please comment by doing the following:
Look over the images and information in this blog and write for the full period about John Singer Sargent and the paintings here, incorporating your observations and some of the information.
Think of your writing as a report on Sargent and some of his works.
Write your name at the top.
A portrait of John by Giovanni Boldini. I believe Sargent first met Boldini in the summer of 1880 (Sargent was 24 and Boldini 38). John had traveled to Venice to meet his family and there he set up a studio. He very easily could have met him in Paris prior, or at the very least Sargent might have known of him. It would be in the early 80's that Boldini painted Sargent.
John Singer Sargent remains uncontested as the finest, flashiest portrait painter of his time. He was idolized during his career, and the purchase of his work by the National Gallery in London earned him the eulogy "the only living old master." Famous for his virtuoso brushwork and able to transform a daub of white coloring into a dazzling diamond ring, Sargent also displayed an amazing grasp of mental shade that turned his likenesses of the fashionable world into a complicated echo of his times.
ReplyDeleteHis parents were American but he was born in Florence he was brought up and educated in Rome, Nice, and Germany. At age 18, he began his art study in Paris at Carolus-Duran’s studio and gained acknowledgment five years later when he displayed a portrait of his teacher in the Salon of 1879. Sargent made his first journey to Spain and Morocco in 1879, where he discovered the gloomy, unstable manner of Velazquez and Goya, which would radically influence his own style in the future.
He had settled permanently in London and had attained global success by the time Sargent made his first trip to America in 1887-88. In America, he was flooded with portrait
commissions.
His art was beautiful and very detailed. They range from portraits (which he hated after doing so many and because of all of the details)to his magnificent landscapes that put pictures to shame.
Emily Nuss
ReplyDeleteMr. Ayres
ILT
February 14, 2012
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American portrait artist. He created about 900 oil paintings and over 2,000 water colors, as well as many sketches. His paintings traveled all over the world. John trained in Paris and shortly after moved to London. His paintings were generally impressionistic.
Life
Sargent was born January 12, 1856 in Florence, Italy. At the Salon of 1884, he showed one of his best pieces, Madam X. There, to his surprise, his prized painting caused a huge scandal. Discouraged, he then moved to London, because his art did not appeal to the English taste.
Paintings
"Sargent's broad, slashing brushstrokes and brilliant palette evoke a sense of the accidental and of capturing a particular moment. He was surprisingly unrepetitive in his portraiture, responding to each sitter differently, and was masterfully able to manipulate props and painterly effects to suggest the class and sometimes the occupation of his subjects. His best portraits capture his sitters in a revealing, off-guard moment. Fashionable clients flocked to his Chelsea studio and paid, on average, 1,000 guineas, or $5,000, for a full-length portrait."
Life-Continued
After 1910 Sargent gave up portraiture and devoted the rest of his life to painting murals and Alpine and Italian landscapes in watercolor. With sublime brilliance Sargent pursued transparency and fluidy. From 1890 to 1910 he worked on a commission for the Boston Public Library to execute murals on the history of the Jewish and Christian religions. He also executed murals in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Emily Nuss
DeleteMr. Ayres
ILT
1/17/12
CONTINUED
"After the turn of the century, Sargent grew tired of the demands of portrait painting. He was constantly preoccupied with mural paintings for the Boston Public Library, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, for which he had received a series of commissions beginning in 1890. Travel studies in watercolor also came to occupy more of his time and became a new source of critical and financial support. Beginning in 1903, he showed such pictures to acclaim in London and New York, stimulating a great demand for them. Sargent engineered his career so astutely that by 1907, when he pledged not to accept any more portrait commissions, he had established a solid reputation as a watercolorist."
Louis D.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ayres
ILT
Feb 15 2912
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was born in Florence in 1856. His father was an American doctor, and the family lived in Philadelphia. Before he was born, his sister died at the young age of two, and his father FitzWilliam and mother Mary moved to Europe to recover. John was then born after his family stopped in Florence due to a cholera epidemic. John would eventually have 5 siblings born after him, yet only his sister Mary and two others made it past childhood.
“At thirteen, his mother reported 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." At age thirteen, he received some watercolor lessons from Carl Welsch, a German landscape painter. Though his education was far from complete, Sargent 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. At seventeen, Sargent was described as "willful, curious, determined and strong" (after his mother) yet shy, generous, and modest (after his father).” (Wikipedia)
John began to study with Carolus-Duran, a young French portrait artist. In 1874, he passed the entrance exam to be admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, one of the premier art schools in France at the time. After mild success and mildly positive reception to his first few works, his portrait of “Madame X” which was considered to be too revealing, showing the woman’s arms. He moved to England and began to make a name for himself. Over his career, he made over 2.900 paintings.
Emma Lavenberg
ReplyDeleteMr. Ayres
February 17, 2012
John Singer Sargent was a very creative talented artist. He painted portraits. For a lot of his portraits he used color. He was born on January 12, 1856 and died on April 14. 1925. As a child he would go down to thee boatyard near his home in Florence Italy. He later moved to England and then to America. He was a very popular portraitist during his prime. His parents were very supportive of his interest in art.
Though his father was a patient teacher of basic subjects, young Sargent was a rambunctious child, more interested in outdoor activities than his studies. As his father wrote home, "He is quite a close observer of animated nature."[8] His mother was quite convinced that traveling around Europe, and visiting museums and churches, would give young Sargent a satisfactory education. Several attempts to have him formally schooled failed, owing mostly to their itinerant life. Sargent's mother was a fine amateur artist and his father was a skilled medical illustrator.[9] Early on, she gave him sketchbooks and encouraged drawing excursions. Young Sargent worked with care on his drawings, and he enthusiastically copied images from The Illustrated London News of ships and made detailed sketches of landscapes.[10] FitzWilliam had hoped that his son's interest in ships and the sea might lead him toward a naval career.
At thirteen, his mother reported 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."[11] At age thirteen, he received some watercolor lessons from Carl Welsch, a German landscape painter.[12] Though his education was far from complete, Sargent grew up to be a highly literate and cosmopolitan young man, accomplished in art, music, and literature.[13] He was fluent in French, Italian, and German. At seventeen, Sargent was described as "willful, curious, determined and strong" (after his mother) yet shy, generous, and modest (after his father).[14] He was well-acquainted with many of the great masters from first hand observation, as he wrote in 1874, "I have learned in Venice to admire Tintoretto immensely and to consider him perhaps second only to Michelangelo and Titian."
His paintings vary from classics from that era to scandalous paintings of that time. His most scandalous painting was Madame X. it was scandalous because she woman in the painting was a prostitute and in the painting she shows her shoulders. This at the time was very revealing for a woman. A lot of his paintings were of women but one of his most famous paintings was of a little boy and it’s called Portrait of a Boy. A lot of his paintings use subdued colors; they are lightened by whites so they are not as brilliant and look soft and dreamy on the canvases. All the lines are blurred and there are no sharp edges. his painting are now worth alot of money because of how good they are.
Ned McCutcheon
ReplyDeleteJohn Singer Sargent was born in Florence Italy in 1956. his father was a teacher, Sargent was rambunctious as a child. He would rather be playing outdoors than working at school. His mother thought that by traveling around Europe, and visiting museums and churches, Sergant would receive a good education. His parents attempted several times to give him a traditional education, but all failed. This was owed to their life of travel. Sargent's mother was a good amateur artist and his father was a skilled medical illustrator. So the art ran in the family. Early in Sargent’s life, she gave him sketchbooks and encouraged him to draw a lot. He worked intensely on his drawings, and he liked to copy images from The Illustrated London News of ships and he made detailed drawings of landscapes. His father had hoped that his son's interest in drawing ships and the sea influence him towards taking a naval career. He started to take painting lessons when he was about thirteen years old. His family was poor because they could not afford to give him lessons by a good professional. He went to the Academy of Florence but he did not last long there tbecause the school was being reorganized. He went to Spain to study paintings done by Velázquez. Sargent started regularly doing portraits in the 1880s. During this time he made his best portrait, Portrait of Madame X. It took over a year to complete the painting. After this painting, he moved to England. In 1890 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy. By 1900, he was at the height of his fame. In 1922, Sargent co-founded New York City's Grand Central Art Galleries together with Edmund Greacen, Walter Leighton Clark, and other artists. Sargent participated in the Grand Central Art Galleries and their academy, the Grand Central School of Art, until his death in 1925. The Galleries held a major retrospective exhibit of Sargent's work in 1924. He then returned to England. There he died on April 14, 1925 of heart disease. I like his paintings. They are very detailed and have good colors. I an able to tell from his paintings who does what for a job and also what they would be like to meet as a real person. I think he represents the people he paints well. I would also the paintings are sublime.
Rozi O’Keefe-Hoeck
ReplyDeleteMr. Ayers
ILT 9E
14 February 2012
John Singer Sargent and his Family and The Portrait of a Boy
John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925, is still considered to be the greatest portrait artist of all times. He was born on January 12 in Florence. Although the Sargents were American they decided to stay abroad because of the death of John’s sister in the U.S. Sargent was an active child and did not pay attention to his studies but to the outdoors.
His father was an eye surgeon in Philadelphia but when John’s older sister died at the age of two, the Sargents moved across the ocean and never stopped moving until a Cholera epidemic occurred in Florence. John was born during the epidemic. Mary Sargent was an amateur artist and a medical book illustrator. His mother, Mary, gave him a sketch pad and encouraged him draw everything around him, for instance, he most commonly drew a naval yard. His father hoped that his interest in ships would compel him to become a sailor. When John was thirteen years old He received water color lessons from Carl Welsch, a German painter. When John was old enough to be on his own, he traveled to Paris, where he was trained Carolus-Duran. Sargent grew up to be a highly literate and multicultural man, accomplished in art, music, and literature. He was fluent in French, Italian, German, and English. At the end of his life, Sargent moved to London and died of heart disease.
In his life time, John Singer Sargent created over nine-hundred portraits. I believe his most exquisite painting is Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. It contains many dazzling colors, such as: soft yellow, soft orange, pink, green, brown, blond, maroon, etc. It shows two young girls, maybe seven or eight years old, placing glowing lanterns in a clearing. They are surrounded in flowers. The two girls look very placid and serene with a daub of boredom. In many of Sargent’s portraits, the children have a bored look, but it is not surprising for the Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose took a year to complete. The painting is 68 1/2 x 60 1/2 in and is an oil on canvas. I find this portrait to be my favorite of his because it shows the virtue and beauty of nature and children. I think it shows the similarities of nature and an innocent child.
Emily Brady
ReplyDeleteMr. Ayres
ILT
February 17 2012
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was a very famous portrait painter. He was from the United States, but mainly lived in Europe during his childhood. He is known for his portraits, as well as his sketches and charcoal drawings. The mediums he used were watercolor, charcoal, and oil paintings.
John was born on January 12, 1856. He had an older sister, but she died when she was two, before John was born. This is why the family moved to Europe, to cope with the loss of their daughter. So, John spent most of his youth in Europe with his father, who used to be an eye surgeon, as his teacher for the basic subjects. John’s parents tried sending him to formal schooling, but it was a failed attempt because John was a very rambunctious child, and all he ever wanted to do was be outside. Instead, he traveled Europe with his parents for his education. He began to draw a lot, with extreme care, and his favorites things to draw were landscapes and ships. His dad had even hoped that John might have a naval career. Also, John’s mother was an amateur artist, and his dad was a skilled medical illustrator, and so John got his talent from his parents definitely.
When John was thirteen years old, he took watercolor lessons with Carl Welsch, and then attended the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence in 1873. He also studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1875, and at the James Carroll Beckwith Studio. These were the only formal teachings he ever received. With these lessons and his father as his basic teacher, John became a literate man, accomplished in art, music, and literature, and fluent in French, Italian, German, and English. He received many honors at the Salon, as well as the Society of American Artists. He became good friends with many famous artists, and would visit them often.
I would now like to tell some of my opinions of a few of John’s paintings. The first one I would like to talk about is Miss Dorothy Vickers- 1884. This painting is full of very light colors, and I feel that this gives it the effect of innocence, as well as a dream-like quality. It is very sweet and peaceful, as well as elegant. The next painting I would like to discuss is Alice Shepard- 1888. This painting has quite the opposite effect of Miss Dorothy Vickers. It is full of very dark colors, and it is very rigid. It appears that Alice is dressed in men’s clothing, suggesting a sort of toughness, rigidness, or solidness of someone who is all grown up. She doesn’t look very happy either, and this could be a metaphor for the uneasy transition from childhood to adulthood. The last painting I wish to talk about is Punt Under the Willows. This painting is filled with very light and vibrant colors, and has an almost dream-like quality to it. It feels very relaxed and comforting, and makes me long for the summer months up ahead.
Lily Harrison
ReplyDeleteMr. Ayres
ILT
John singer sergeant was born on January 12, 1856. He was an American artist. He was considered the leading portrait painter of his generation. During his profession he painted around 900 oil painting and 2000 water colors and an innumerable amount of charcoals and pencil sketches.
While John was helping in the studio of Carl Welsch in 1868 he began drawing and painting at this early age. After his vast amount of schooling he became wildly identified for his magnificent paintings. He also obtained honors for his masterpieces at the salon, a very difficult art contest, and the society of American artists. During this expanse of time he sojourned the studios of many well know artistic accomplishers in Europe.
Young John was a very boisterous child, more fascinated in outdoor exercises, even thought his father was a patient teacher; he didn’t want to focus on his academics. When his father sent a letter home, saying “He is quite a close observer of animated nature.” His mother thought that traveling in Europe, visiting museums and churches would be a good enough education for John. His parents made several tries at having his schooled, but all failed, because of their drifting lifestyle.
His mother was also an amateur artist and his dad was a very good medical illustrator. When he was young his mother gave him a sketch book and at the age of 13 his mother stated that he “sketches quite nicely and has remarkably quick and correct eye. If we could afford to give him really good lessons, he would be quite a little artist.” At this age he began taking watercolor lessons from Carl Welsch, who was a German landscape painter.
Critique for Punt under the willows: colors are warm and calm looking indicating summer but the blanket indicates it is cold enough to be late august.
The brush strokes are very smooth showing he has a steady hand.
The painting is almost sloppily done put that only adds to the paintings calmness.