Tag: john singer sargent

John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal

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  • Charlotte Nichols Greene and Her Son Stephen Greene, 1924, Charcoal
  • Daisy Fellowes, ca. 1920, charcoal
  • Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Later Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, 1923, charcoal
  • Olimpio Fusco, ca. 1900-1910, charcoal.
    Olimpio Fusco was likely one of the numerous professional models, often Italians living in London, whom Sargent employed to pose for his mural cycles.
  • Lady Helen Venetia Vincent, ca. 1905, charcoal
  • Lady Diana Manners, 1914, Charcoal
    Lady Diana Manners was the youngest daughter of Violet Lindsay and Henry Manners, eight Duke of Rutland. Her mother, herself an exhibiting artist, was a central figure in the Souls. Along with other children of the Souls, Lady Diana became part of the ”Corrupt Coterie”, a group of aristocrats and intellectuals known for their extravagant parties in the years leading up to WWI. During the war, many members of this group would be killed; Lady Diana served as a nurse and married Alfred Duff Cooper, a fellow survivor, in 1919. Legendary for her beauty, she proved fascinating for authors like Evelyn Waugh and F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Ellen Peabody Endicott, 1903, Charcoal
  • Helen Dunham, ca. 1895, charcoal
  • Dr. Charles Fleischer, 1903, charcoal
    Sargent is said to have thought that Fleischer, with his prominent mustache, bore some resemblance to Edgar Allan Poe, which this relaxed portrait likewise suggests
  • Charles Martin Loeffler, 1917, charcoal and graphite
  • Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, ca. 1913, charcoal and graphite
    In this joyful drawing, Sargent represented her in an outfit thought to have been designed by Bakst, the costume designer for the Ballets Russes. Whitney went on to found the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1930 with her collection of more than five hundred works by contemporary American artists
  • Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, 1917, charcoal and white chalk
  • Sir William Blake Richmond, ca. 1910, charcoal
    The son of portraitist George Richmond, he was named after his father’s friend and mentor, William Blake.
  • William Adams Delano, 1922, charcoal
  • Nancy Astor, 1907, charcoal
    Nancy Astor was the first woman to take a seat in British Parliament when, in 1919, she ran as a Conservative for the post previously held by her husband in the House of Commons.
  • Winston Churchill, 1925, charcoal
  • Eleonora Randolph Sears, 1921, charcoal
    A devoted and successful athlete and a pioneering figure in women’s sports. She garnered as many as 240 athletic trophies during her lifetime, winning the US doubles tennis championship four times between 1911 and 1917 and becoming the first female national squash champion in 1928
  • Gertrude Kingston, ca. 1909, charcoal
  • Ruth Draper as a Dalmatian Peasant, 1914, charcoal
    The American actress Ruth Draper is credited with originating the now-familiar one-woman show. She wrote her own monologues and impersonations, both dramatic and comic, and gained fame in the United States and Europe. Sargent first drew a conventional portrait

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was one of the greatest portrait artists of his time. While he is best known for his powerful paintings, he largely ceased painting portraits in 1907 and turned instead to charcoal drawings to satisfy portrait commissions.

The Morgan Library & Museum presented a major exhibition of his beautiful portraits of beautiful people, in charcoal.

November 10th, 2019

The most eclectic way to warm up

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Enter the Portland Museum of Art

Untitled (Hooking Buck Head Down), 2013
Marc Swanson (U.S., b. 1969)
Polyurethane foam, crystals, adhesive

Leopard, 19th century
Glazed earthenware

Candlesticks, ca. 1880
Bronze, marble, gilding
Unidentified Artist

Summer, 1927
Bronze
John Clements Gregory (U.S. (born England), 1879-1958)

Left Hand, 2007
Oil on linen
Jenny Holzer (U.S., b. 1950)

Frisbee, 1987
Oil on canvas
Will Barnet (U.S., 1911-2012)

Black Cat on Orange Background, 1958-59
Oil on masonite
Alex Katz (U.S., b. 1927)

Two Female Models Sitting with Legs Crossed and Kazak Rug, 2013
Oil on canvas
Philip Pearlstein (U.S., b. 1924)

Slab City Road, 1959
Oil on linen
Alex Katz (U.S., b. 1927)

Mother and Child, 1922
Mahogany
William Zorach (U.S. (born Lithuania), 1889-1966)

Diana of the Sea, 1940
Oil on canvas
Marguerite Thompson Zorach

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2016
Ink on latex saturated cellulose
Tim Rollins and K.O.S. (U.S., 1955-2017; U.S., established 1984)

New York-Paris No.2, 1931
Oil on canvas
Stuart Davis (U.S., 1892-1964)

Mrs. Henry St. John Smith (Ellen Archer Eveleth Smith), 1883
Oil on canvas
John Singer Sargent (U.S. (born Italy), 1856-1925

Dancer and Gazelles, 1912
Bronze
Paul Manship (U.S., 1885-1966)

Sideboard, ca. 1795-1800
Mahogany and other woods
John and Thomas Seymour (U.S. (born England), 1738-1818 & 1771-1849)

Portraits of Sally Stevens Lord and James Lord, ca. 1834
Oil on canvas
Attributed to Royal Brewster Smith (U.S., 1801-1855)

Eleanor Foster, 1755
Oil on canvas
Joseph Badger (U.S., 1708-1765)

The Dead Pearl Diver, 1858
Marble
Benjamin Paul Akers (U.S., 1825-1861)

Portland, ME

November 21st, 2018

The East Room || The Rotunda

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The Original Library

With its three-story inlaid walnut bookshelves and magnificent ceiling, the East Room was designed as a treasury for Pierpont Morgan’s remarkable collection of rare printed books. The sixteenth-century Netherlandish tapestry over the mantelpiece depicts avarice, one of the seven deadly sins, personified by the mythological King Midas. Two staircases, concealed behind bookcases, provide access to the balconies. Paintings by H. Siddons Mowbray adorn the upper reaches of the room, and the signs of the zodiac are depicted in the ceiling’s hexagonal spandrels. (Morgan was a member of an exclusive dining club that admitted only twelve members at a time—one for each sign of the zodiac—and the arrangement of the signs in his library’s ceiling may carry a hidden meaning related to key events in his personal life.) Allegorical depictions of the arts and sciences alternate with portraits of figures from Socrates to Michelangelo, identifying the library as a place for the preservation of art and ideas.

Literature, Art, and Music from the Middle Ages to the Present

On view in the East Room are examples from The Morgan Library & Museum’s extraordinary collection of medieval illuminated manuscripts, rare printed books and bindings, and handwritten manuscripts of great writers, artists, and composers from the Renaissance to the present day. While some of the items on view were purchased by Pierpont Morgan, others have been acquired in the century since his death. Selections are changed regularly, but a seminal work is always on view: one of the Morgan’s three copies of a Bible printed by Johannes Gutenberg in 1455. With Gutenberg’s Bible, the painstaking process of copying books by hand gave way to an innovative new technology—movable type—that facilitated the exchange of art and ideas in all spheres of human endeavor.

Taking another look at The North Room, before leaving.  The Rotunda

In Morgan’s day, visitors to the library passed through a pair of monumental bronze doors into a rotunda replete with opulent detail: variegated marble columns, an ornately patterned floor, and fine mosaic panels that line the curved walls. The ceiling paintings, by American artist H. Siddons Mowbray (1858–1928), depict three of the major literary epochs represented in Pierpont Morgan’s collections—the ancient world, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. 

This portrait of Mrs. Morgan was on view at the Lower Level (and not in one of the rooms surrounding Mr. Morgan’s library, as I would have expected). John Singer Sargent, Florence 1856-1925 London
Portrait of Mrs. J.P. Morgan, Jr.

This spirited portrait depicts Jane Morgan (neé Jane Norton Grew, 1868-1925), the wife of Pierpont Morgan’s son, J.P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943). Although the portrait is inscribed 1906, it appears that Mrs. Morgan sat for Sargent in 1904-5, when she was still living with her husband in London. The Morgans returned to New York in 1906. The following year Sargent declined the opportunity to depict Pierpont Morgan. Shortly thereafter he relinquished his practice as the leading portrait painter of high society in order to focus on landscapes and murals.

The Morgan Library & Museum

May 7th, 2017

The Fabulous Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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How come it is already one year ago this week, when we stepped into the secret world of wonders that is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum? That eclectic structure, inspired by Venetian Palazzos but integrating Roman, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance elements – and more recently a new glass wing by (you guessed it, again) Renzo Piano –  and still managing to look harmonious?

Indeed, Isabella and her husband Jack, loved Venice so much they wanted to bring it back home with them. And so they did! They bought columns, windows, and doorways to adorn every floor, as well as reliefs, balustrades, capitals, and statues.

But it was not just Venice. The Gardners travelled all over the world, from Paris to the Middle East, Egypt to the Far East and across America, collecting on their way paintings, photos, statues and other objects of art and craft. Their collection grew so big, the Gardners had to think about a new home for their treasures. That’s when plans for a new museum were first laid. But Jack’s sudden death in 1898 found Isabella pursuing their common dream all by herself.

And she certainly pursued it. Not only she was present at the site every day, she gave orders, demonstrated exactly how she wanted the building to look like down to the slightest detail. When ceiling beams arrived for the Gothic Room and were too smooth for her liking, she took an ax in hand and hacked away to achieve the desired result.

It took us the best part of the day to walk through The Gardner; it will take us a good full week to revisit it here on The Humble Fabulist. I hope you enjoy this series as we take a look into the wonderful world that Isabella Stewart Gardner built for us.

Let us start with the Courtyard, visible from every gallery in the museum, with its Ca’d’Oro balconies dating from 1845-1855 and Roman sculpture garden where plants change almost every month. For most of the them are grown in the Museum’s temperature-controlled Hingham greenhouses, then trucked here on rotation so that the garden is always in full bloom. Notice the hydrangeas in these pictures?  They are often grown from cuttings taken the previous year and are on view between May & June.  This is ”Sentient Veil”, a sculptural sound piece created in 2017, by Philip Beesley (b. 1956). Small glass ampules containing gold and blue liquids hang in clusters from a digitally fabricated textile, along with LED lighting and miniature acoustic resonators. “Sentient Veil” is silent until visitors enter the gallery; movement in the room triggers a mixture of whispers, mechanical clicks and gentle tones, creating a quiet chorus.

The Spanish Cloister –

Isabella Gardner herself spent hours assembling the nearly 2,000 painted and glazed tiles into the appealing pattern we see today on the walls of the Spanish Cloister. Her friend, the artist Dodge Macknight, bought the tiles for her in Mexico in 1909 from the Church of San Agustìn.

And, finally for today,

JOHN SINGER SARGENT (1856 – 1925)
EL JALEO, 1882
Oil on canvas

During his travels in Spain in 1879, Sargent was mulling over a major work of art in which he could express his love of Gypsy music, dance, and picturesque costumes. On his return to Paris he set to work on a wide horizontal picture whose proportions simulated the shallow stage space of popular musical establishments. He named the painting El Jaleo to suggest the name of a dance, the jaleo de jerez, while counting on the broader meaning jaleo, which means ruckus or hubbub. The painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1882 with the more explicit title El Jaleo: Danse des gitanes (Dance of the Gypsies).

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

May 4th, 2017

The incredible murals of the Boston Public Library

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I had read about Sargent’s murals and, in any case, public libraries always figure high on our ”must see” lists when we visit cities with significant history and culture. Having already been acquainted with the treasures inside and out of the MFA and having marveled at the city from high above, I expected the Library would be the best way to end a day full of wonders. I expected to be amazed by a couple of murals, chandeliers, marble staircases and, of course, an inviting reading room. But nothing – nothing – could have prepared me for this:

Not just a couple of murals but three whole galleries covered in art – by three different artists.

We found the Chavannes Gallery first: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

“This cycle of allegorical murals by renowned French painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) was completed in Paris and installed between 1895 and 1896. Subjects depicted include science, history, poetry and philosophy.”

Then came the Abbey Room and its murals: The Quest and Achievement of the Holy Grail by Edwin Austin Abbey

“Respected American illustrator Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911) completed his first work in oil paint with this vibrant mural cycle, installed in the library in 1902. The murals follow the story of Sir Galahad on his quest for the Holy Grail.”

And, finally, the magnificent Sargent Gallery Murals: Triumph of Religion by John Singer Sargent

“American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) spent 29 years on this ambitious mural cycle, titled The Triumph of Religion. Painted in his studio in England and installed over four phases between 1895 and 1919, the panels interpret moments in the history of Paganism, Judaism and Christianity.”

For more information the Library and Murals, notably those by John Singer Sargent, please check The Boston Public Library website.

Visited on May 2nd, 2017 – and still in awe.

Washington D.C.: The Smithsonian American Art Museum part II

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Nude Seated at Her Dressing Table, 1909, oil on canvas
Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939)

Undine, modeled about 1880, carved 1884, marble
Chauncey Bradley Ives (1810-1894)

Illusions, before 1901, oil on canvas
Henry Brown Fuller (1867-1934)

Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler (Mrs. John Jay Chapman), 1893, oil on canvas
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)

According to the artist, twenty-six-year-old Elizabeth Chanler had ”the face of the Madonna and the eyes of a child.” This portrait shows a beautiful, well-bred woman who has learned to be strong. When Elizabeth was still a girl, her mother died, leaving her to help care for seven younger brothers and sisters.

Sargent has portrayed her in the elegant interior of his London studios decorated with two paintings that frame the circumstances of Elizabeth’s life: a Madonna and Child, and a figure of an old woman copied from a portrait by Frans Hals. Perhaps the artist wished to show Elizabeth as a woman who, despite early hardships, was neither maiden nor matron. Sargent was often dismissed by his contemporaries as a ”society portraitist”, but his paintings never fail tot convey the human story behind the image. 

April 24th, 217

Her insatiable appetite for society

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John Singer Sargent, Elsie Meyer, 1908. Charcoal on paper.

Elsie Meyer (1885-1954), seen as a child in Sargent’s group portrait, became a fashionable young woman. In a 1903 letter to her brother Frank, her mother* described her ”insatiable appetite for society”, her gowns from Worth and Doucet in Paris, and the lavish preparations for her society debut. A few years later, Sargent depicted her in a simple cotton blouse.

*Lady Meyer demonstrated excellence in social skills herself: a society hostess known for her exuberant soirées, enchanting voice and support of the arts, but also a socially concerned philanthropist supporting working class women, underprivileged families, and women’s suffrage.

(Notes from The Jewish Museum’s website)

January 8th, 2017