John Singer Sargent
Born – Florence, Italy 1856
Died – London, England 1925
John Singer Sargent was born in Italy to American parents, studied in Paris and eventually settled in England. His cosmopolitan background encouraged an urbane style most commonly revealed in his numerous portraits of fashionable society. In 1880, he visited Spain where Hals and Velasquez were important to the development of his considerable technical facility. He studied in Paris for ten years, leaving in 1884 after his Salon portrait of Madame Gautreau was criticized for its sexually provocative nature. The following year, Sargent founded the new English Art Club in London, Luxembourg Gardens at Twilight, with its soft, atmospheric haze, is an example of a style of painting in which Sergent emulated the light effects of the French Impressionists. While admired for it’s technically mastery, his work is often seen only as superficially impressive. However, aside from his portraits, he painted some remarkable watercolour landscapes, as well as murals for public buildings in Boston and, in 1918, a huge, tragic painting entitled Gassed as part of his role as an official war artist.
Masterpieces:
- Ena and Betty, Daughters of Asher and Mrs Wertheimer
- Gassed
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About john singer sargent
John Singer Sargent
Carter Ratcliff
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John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1900-1907: The Complete Paintings, Volume VII (The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art)
Richard Ormond
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Sargent Portrait Drawings: 42 Works by John Singer Sargent (Dover Art Library)
John Singer Sargent
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