All American: Summer of Sargent and Bingham

Attendees viewing Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) in the exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends. All photographs by Cornelius Martin

«On Friday, July 31, the College Group at the Met (CGM) invited local college and graduate students to view The American Wing's summer exhibitions and permanent collection during the event All American: Summer of Sargent and Bingham. The evening's programs highlighted Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends and Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River, and uncovered exciting connections between the two exhibitions.»

After being greeted by CGM members in the Great Hall, students proceeded to The Charles Engelhard Court, where teaching artists Deborah Lutz and Beverly Acha led Drop-in Drawing sessions that featured sculptures in the permanent collection. Each student received a large clipboard with fresh paper, a kneaded eraser, and charcoal, ebony, and graphite pencils. Deborah and Beverly guided each group through the process of laying the foundation for a drawing.

Teaching artist Deborah Lutz leads students in a Drop-in Drawing session

They dispensed useful advice, explaining the function of each drawing tool and showing students how to hold a pencil to capture the angles of a challenging subject. Deborah's group discussed the heightened emotions expressed in William Rimmer's The Falling Gladiator and Harriet Whitney Frishmuth's The Vine. Beverly's students explored the power of a pose, like that of Augustus Saint-Gaudens's Hiawatha, to convey emotion. By the end of each session, artists of all skill levels had completed a drawing that was ready to take home and display.

Left: A student in teaching artist Beverly Acha's Drop-in Drawing session experiments with holding her pencil at different angles to create looser and thinner lines. Right: Beverly Acha demonstrates how to use a pencil as a tool for measuring the angles of Augustus Saint-Gaudens's Hiawatha

In thirty-minute Observant Eye discussion sessions, students closely examined works in the exhibition Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River and a pair of paintings by John Singer Sargent in The American Wing's permanent collection. Educator Page Knox's group began with The Jolly Flatboatmen, one of the most famous paintings by George Caleb Bingham. Pointing to specific details, Page asked questions that highlighted the subtle complexity of the mostly self-taught artist's composition. Vivian, a student at New York University, noted that the "balance of colors" sets the mood for the scene. Page also identified Bingham's other depictions of the same subject in painting and engraving to give the audience an understanding of his artistic process.

Educator Page Knox asks her Observant Eye group to identify examples of activity and stillness in George Caleb Bingham's The Jolly Flatboatmen

In discussing Sargent's work, Assistant Museum Educator Elizabeth Perkins's group took a different approach, drawing clues from the paintings to reconstruct the complicated social world of the Gilded Age. A comparison between Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Phelps Stokes and The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant elicited interesting comments about the power of using clothing and poses to articulate an identity. In the first painting, Edith Minturn Stokes wears street clothes (instead of a gown) and stands in front of her husband, who is partially obscured by shadow. Multiple students wondered how turn-of-the-century viewers would have interpreted this painting. Wishing they could have listened in on Sargent's conversations with his elegant sitters, the students were excited to move upstairs and view Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends.

The College Group at the Met is gearing up for another exciting year. During this event, CGM members were available to answer students' questions about joining the committee, which is currently accepting applications. Interested students can receive updates about the next event on our Facebook page.

The many students who continued to sketch in The Charles Engelhard Court until the Museum closed

In the meantime, visitors of all ages can enjoy The American Wing's summer exhibitions, which complement each other in their explorations of American identity at home and abroad. Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends, organized in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, London, is on view in gallery 999 through October 4. Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River, a traveling exhibition that was previously shown at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum, is on view in gallery 746 through September 20.