Category: Every Portrait/Sargent Made a Scene (Page 2 of 2)

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.

Pablo Picasso once said, “Painting is a blind man’s profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen.” The essay “Every Portrait Tells a Lie” by Debra Brehmer in a way supports this quote. The article brought up many good points that I haven’t even stopped to think about before. One of these points was that an artist manipulates the reality he is drawing when creating an artwork to reflect what he/she wants to see. Brehmer went up to bring up her family portrait that her father took when she was little. The photo portrayed Brehmer and her brother, and they both seemed very happy and excited to be together on Christmas eve. But as Debra goes on to say, that is not the case at all.

In reality they aren’t the happy family that is portrayed in the portrait. Brehmer hated her brother who was always mean and wanted nothing to do with him, especially taking a picture with him and pretending to be happy. Her father was “attempting to create an idealized imagine” that’s show not who they really are but who they want to be. That’s the main problem with portraits, they never show the “full picture.”

                                                                 Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife by John Singer Sargent (1885). Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Dwight Primiano

This new train of thought got me thinking about John Singer Sargent’s painting of Robert Louis and his wife. I began question myself what this painting was really trying to tell the audience. Did Singer really alter the image to show what he perceived about Robert Louis and his wife. In the picture they seem very distant from each other, as if they have gotten into an argument or have grown apart.  I guess we’ll never know.

There is no doubt in many people’s minds that John Singer Sargent was a very talented painter, but his paintings hold a greater story than what we can see through his works. Though he possessed a gift that only so many could be born with, he was very secretive and enjoyed his personal life to be private. In a way he was a bit “snobby” because he thrived to paint portraits of wealthy people, but his personality tended him to be extremely shy in public. It seems as if he did his artwork to get recognized for the highly technical skill that he had acquired, rather than doing his art for pure enjoyment and creativity. He was a performer in the art world and often did what people wanted him to do, portraits. As a result, it was hard for him to experiment with his artwork until later in his career.  His portraits allow us to take glimpse of how John Singer Sargent was feeling and how his subjects were feeling through various aspects of each of his paintings. For example, we can examine the color choice, expressions of the subject, the brush strokes and time at which he painted the portrait. We may see him as this person with masterful skill in painting and we tend to forget that John Singer Sargent is also a human with flaws.

His life may seem as if it was painted with perfect brush strokes with the right amount of pressure and finesse, but was it really? For him to paint at such a high magnitude he must’ve lacked in some other area. As discussed in the article, John Singer Sargent wasn’t ever married and usually kept all his thoughts behind closed doors. There are tons of people in the world with many different “disabilities,” such as autism and dyslexia. Society has deemed these people to be “stupid”, but some of the most intelligent and successful have these “disabilities.” Why is that? These people were forced to live their lives in an unconventional manner and take on life in a different manner to cope with their problems. John Singer Sargent must’ve had “something” that made him tick, he lost the ability to communicate in public well, but in return he was able to paint like no other.

It is safe to say that John Singer Sargent has lived a life with more accomplishments than most people will ever do in their lifetime. His works told stories that prophesied modern society, he declined the honor of knighthood, and his artwork’s style was ahead of his time (a “hipster”). John Singer Sargent under any definition will consist of paintings that were simplistically realistic to the eye, but held stories greater than 1000 words. His work may not seem to be super innovative, but he knew how to paint portraits better than anyone  else during his time.

“There is no standing still because time is moving forward.” (Gregory Lake) This quote captures the crux of what Debra Brehmer is trying to relay; nothing is still or permanent, everything and everyone is always changing, so make the most of every second because it will never come back. Portraiture, especially through the use of photography, is an unusual art form in which a snapshot, frozen in time, is created to last forever. The atmosphere, the time, and the emotions present in a photograph can never be exactly repeated. Portraits attempt to distill these elements. We should look back from time to time to see how we have grown and what has changed but we need to remember to move forward because “time is moving forward.”

I can personally relate to the idea of making the most of every second through my athletic experiences. My coaches drilled the idea of forgetting the past, and forgetting the future, and just giving maximum effort and attention to every moment that is now. Athletics are a prime example of the unrelenting march of time. A fraction of a second is the difference between winning and losing. After the game, from experience, I can tell you that the losing side discusses everything they could have done different in those seconds that would have changed the ultimate outcome, the losing team wishes they can relive those precious few seconds. But time just keeps moving forward.

As an athlete I have learned the importance of maximizing every second, and as I transition to college and being a student full time, many of the same principles apply. The time spent watching netflix or sleeping in before a test cannot be changed no matter how madly you wish to go back to that time and make yourself study. The concept of time management is an essential key for everyone to master so that we can limit the regrets we have with how we spent our time. I am learning to never let a second go to waste, I am learning to use every second I have to my benefit. Instead of playing 2048 on the train to and from school, I am reading textbooks. Instead of watching netflix all night, I am, albeit resentfully, trying to get to sleep on time. Instead of dazing off in class and having to study twice as much to retain the material, I am focusing on the lesson.

I would like to add that I thought that art, and the discussion of art, and the reactions to art were a waste of time, but after seeing the degree to which my reflections to these artworks allow me to open up to myself, I am beginning to truly admire art. Sarah Churchwell stated that “art is the perfect empathy,” but it is an abstract paradoxical idea to grasp. The paradox in the notion that art is tool to understand and share the feelings of another is the idea that one painting, a singular image for all, can empathize diverse feelings for every viewer.

“…the photographer or artist imposes their reality on the picture…” Debra Brehmer, in her article “Every Portrait Tells a Lie,”  compared taking a photo to painting a portrait. To serve as an example, she brings up an anecdote of how her father took a picture of her and her brother in front of the large Christmas tree.In his attempt to create an idealized image, which displays the reality that he wants, her father is essentially creating a lie. Her father, in attempt to create an idealized image, which displays the reality that he wants, is essentially creating a lie. Debra Brehmer doesn’t blame her father for it, but she seems to admire the humanistic wants and needs in which she states “Portraiture wants what cannot be had: Life to stop without being dead.” 

The concept is not rare. Many people “pose” in pictures because they want to remember the good times, not the bad. They take pictures for memories, or more specifically, “good” memories.Of course, I can’t speak for those who find the need to take a selfie every hour as if their looks were changing by the hour and they must hold on to the precious moment of each change.

This concept is not only an artistic concept, but also a psychological concept. I say that based off of my own experience. I’ve always wondered why my family members always ask me to smile every time we take a picture. Most of the times, I don’t really feel like smiling.  I’ve never been a big fan of smiling at the Camera because that’s just weird. Why would I smile for no reason? It’s just so unnatural. Now, I see why my family members always tell me to smile during pictures: in order to portray the idea of a “happy family.”

The article “How John Singer Sargent made a scene” is a summary of the praise and criticisms he received.  It explores in detail of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose which was painted in the late summer of 1885 and 1886. Sargent stated that the painting was meant to capture, air open air, “the transient quality of ‘fugitive evening light.'” The painting took him 2 years to finish and interestingly, he only painted for 25 minutes each night, according to the article. From the painting, I feel the calmness and tranquility of the night. The two children in white reminds of purity and innocence. The roses and lilies are blooming. Even from the picture, I can smell the fresh scent of forest air, which is lightly enriched by the scent of the flowers.

Citations:

Debra Brehmer, “Every Portrait Tells a Lie”

Sarah Churchwell, “How John Singer Sargent Made a Scene”