John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist who lived from 1856 to 1925. He is remembered today as one of the best portrait painters of the late nineteenth century.
Though technically American, Sargent was born in Florence, Tuscany, to an expatriate family and spent most of his early life traveling throughout Europe, visiting museums, historic sites, and seeing the art of the old masters. His mother was an amateur artist and encouraged him to paint at a young age, even paying for his first art lessons, in watercolor, at just 13. In Paris, Sargent started his art training under Carolus-Duran, the French portrait artist. At 18, he was admitted into the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris but continued studying under Duran. Duran encouraged his students to paint and mix their colors directly on the canvas, and Sargent mastered this painting technique. At the École des Beaux-Arts, he was a contemporary of another American expatriate, Julius LeBlanc Stewart. Sargent was influenced by the realism of the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez, and the Italian photographer, Carlo Naya.
Although Sargent’s first love was landscape painting, he turned to portraits because of the large amount of commission work available. At 21 years old, his first major portrait was admitted into the prestigious Paris Salon. In 1879, at 23, he traveled to Spain and Italy to study the masters and gain inspiration for his work. By this time, he was successfully accepted into the art world and was critically acclaimed. He began to be sought after for commissioned portrait work.
In 1884, Sargent painted his most famous piece, “Portrait of Madame X”. It was sensual and ahead of its time, featuring an American born, French raised socialite with a scandalous off the shoulder dress strap. The piece was so scandalous that it tarnished his name in the French art scene and caused him to move to England as an escape. Before he left, he repainted the strap so that it was on her shoulder, but the damage to his reputation was already done.
After an initially difficult time in England, John Singer Sargent was finally accepted into the English art scene. In 1887, one of his works was purchased from the Royal Academy by the prestigious Tate Gallery. This greatly increased his popularity, and his portraits were highly after, first in England, then overseas in the United States. He continued to work and was highly successful for the next two decades.
In his forties, Sargent started traveling more, spending time abroad in Spain, Italy, and France. He was at the height of his career and was able to be more selective, producing noticeably fewer portraits. He began painting landscapes again, which created art of a more personal nature. His watercolor paintings used looser brushstrokes to catch a glimpse of a moment. In 1907, Sargent stopped doing commissioned portraiture altogether. He continued to paint, but only landscapes.
John Singer Sargent died in 1925 from heart disease. He was 69.
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