Quick post today. We’re in NYC, and we hit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to see the John Sargent exhibition. I’ve been really eager to see this. Most people consider Sargent to be one of the finest portrait painters because he captured the nature of the person in his portraits.
Basically, I just snapped pix. I mostly didn’t bother with explanation placards since this exhibition was super crowded, and portraiture is pretty self explanatory. Sargent grew up overseas in Florence, Italy. He went to Paris when he was 18 to paint, and he was a sensation. He was incredibly young when he was painting portraits of important people. Portraiture is not like snapping a photograph. You have to 'sit' for the painter sometimes for hours. Sargent was not the moody, tortured artist. He was a fun guy who liked people and they liked him back. He painted many people in their homes, and he was often a 'house guest' during many of the paintings. He was so charming that his personality often got him his next commission.
The Met owns his most famous portrait - It’s called Madame X, and was considered to be scandalous because SHE USED COSMETICS. The dress was also quite suggestive for the time. Sargent wanted to paint one of the dress straps falling off her shoulder, but changed it at the last minute since he considered he might be pushing the portrait past good taste. Well, turned out he was, but that didn't stop the picture from being a sensation that everyone wanted to see. He sold the portrait to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1916 commenting that it was his best work. Aren't we lucky it is in a museum.
Enjoy the other pictures by clicking on the link.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Rz2Buqz26c3Wlznbc9
