Reading Response 9/9/15

John Singer Sargent was a well-known Italian-born American artist whose unique paintings became famous in the 19^th century. His works, mostly portraits of the wealthy and privileged, exhibit realism as well as impressionism of the era. Although Sargent was a very independent-thinking artist, his travels around the world inspired his style through the work by the “old masters”. For example, some of his portraits show the influence of artists such as Claude Monet.

Sargent’s best known portrait, Madame X, caused his reputation to take a turn for the worse. The portrait illustrates a woman in a low-cut, exposing dress. The painting was a “succès de scandale”, due to the social standards during those times, and it led to Sargent losing a lot of fans. However, this did not stop him from creating even more amazing art. He turned to England, where he could start over. Sargent began impressionist projects and created well-known paintings such as Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.

Sargent’s work is not just realistic; it feels as if someone is truly looking back at you. Every portrait is full of life and unique in its own way. Henry James, the author of “Picture and Text”, describes Sargent’s work as “not only a portrait, but a picture, and it arouses even in the profane spectator something of the painter’s sense, the joy of engaging also, by sympathy, in the solution of the artistic problem” (p. 3). Some of his paintings, such as the Lady in Black, is a simple portrait yet it feels as if it projects life out of the canvas. James describes it as “impossible to forget, of which the most striking characteristic is its simplicity, and yet which overflows with perfection” (p.3). Sargent created this work after a trip to Spain, where he began to idolize Velasquez, a Spanish painter from the 15^th century, even more. Sargent used Velasquez as an inspiration for many of his paintings. Some even say that Sargent is second to Velasquez in the art world.