In Debra Brehmer’s article, “Every Portrait Tells a Lie” she dives right in by saying that every portrait tells a story that is somewhat a lie, meaning that any presentation is not an accurate account of what actually happened at the moment, but rather an attempt at capturing a certain moment. Brehmer then refers to a personal photo of her and her brother sitting in front of a Christmas tree. Though the photo makes them appear happy, Brehmer writes how it is a false representation of what had actually occurred. She says that her brother had probably done something “nasty” right before the photo, but because she had to stage a smile, it would appear otherwise. Her word choice of “manufactured” (in the sentence: “I knew, even at a young age, that we were participating in a history that was manufactured”), truly captures her feelings regarding portraitures. Its as though the subjects of the photo were some industrial product that was simply being created or produced by the artist’s (or photographer’s) judgment of how s/he would like the portrait/photo to appear. Brehmer also states a goal of portraitures, that it “tries to hold on to what can’t be contained”, that though the moment has past, there is still a reminder that exists to represent it. Some artists broke away from the tradition of “frozen or dead” portraits, and tried to keep the subject of the portrait alive. By the time, I came to the end of this article, I found myself looking at the last Christmas photo in a different light, asking myself how truly happy the family was at the moment and if the photo was in any way an accurate representation of what the photo seems to present.
Upon reading “How John Singer Sargent made a scene” by Sarah Churchwell, I understood that Sargent had been influenced by many other great artists, but that he redefined it and produced many pieces of artwork that were considered very modern for their time. In his piece “Lily, Lily, Rose”, Sargent’s “chief aim… was to capture en plein air the transient quality of ‘fugitive evening light’”. Unlike other “posed” or “staged” photos of the time, here we see how Sargent tried to create a moment in real time. The girls in the photo seems to be right in action, and that is essentially what Sargent was trying to capture. Even in the portrait “Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife”, the scene seems to be very in-the-moment, and not posed. The husband is captured mid-walking, and the wife (due to the murkiness of her outfit) seems to be shifting constantly in her seat. Both these portraits seem to capture a moment in it’s real time, as opposed to having them be posed.
Though Sargent’s work had its critics, its clear that he was able to take ideas from other people and create something new. He is credited for many great and accomplished works, and even more so for showing us what modern would look like.
I agree with your point that Sargent’s pieces are more realistic and don’t seem as posed as the Family Christmas Photo example. Sargent seems to capture a working scene rather than a pose in some of his pieces. I also like how you credited his originality of the work, as despite the opposition he may have faced for creating it, he was a strong and unique painter, and that is what set him apart from other artists during his time.
I like that you pointed out that he captured scenes in the moment. I feel like he did that in almost all of his paintings. They all seem like photographs in the way that they resonate with the viewer. You can tell if you look closely that there are little clues in the painting that give a nod to its scene-like nature. I believe that his dream to capture scenes in every day life was realized because of this idea.