Sunday, January 3, 2010

John Singer Sargent


I will post twice today because I couldn't resist talking about this show. Yesterday I went downtown to savor the Sargent show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art for one last time before it leaves for Houston. Check out this link  to see a little video of the show. You could see these paintings and sketches again and again and it will still blow you away.
Sargent sketched incessantly. Lucky for us this show is filled with pages of his sketchbooks. Drawings, watercolors, oils sketches and full finished oils are all there.  I felt as if I was looking inside his brain at his thinking process. Sketching to him was about curiosity and discovery. Some people think of Sargent only as a portrait painter of the elite (yes he did that, think  Madame X). But John Singer Sargent was much more than that. He felt painting deep through his bones. His hand was one of the most powerful ever. I would put his brushwork alongside the other greats like Turner and Titian. His work ethic is admirable as he worked constantly. In brief, Sargent was an amazing artist.



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