Sargent in his Paris studio, 1884. Sargent is known to have sought out textiles during his extensive travels and to have formed a personal collection. He used them to decorate his studio, pictured above, and would occasionally ask his subjects to wear certain items that he wished to highlight in their portrait. Image courtesy of a private collection
During the installation of Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends, while co-curator Stephanie Herdrich and I were deciding where to hang Sargent's portraits in their respective locations in the galleries, we were struck by the artist's luscious rendering of fabrics, particularly their vibrant colors and patterns. In many instances, his subject's attire—which Sargent often dictated—sets the mood for the portrait and vies for attention with the sitter's likeness. In other cases, the costume creates a fascinating foil, revealed in the face of his subject.
Upon entering the first gallery of the exhibition, you are confronted by a portrait of a very angry young lady with her brother off to the side. They are Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron, the children of playwright Edouard and Marie Pailleron, whom Sargent had painted in separate portraits the previous year.
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). Pailleron Children, 1880. Oil on canvas; 60 x 69 in. (152.4 x 175.3 cm). Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Purchased with funds from the Edith M. Usry Bequest, in memory of her parents Mr. and Mrs. George Franklin Usry, the Dr. and Mrs. Peder T. Madsen Fund, and the Anna K. Meredith Endowment Fund (1976.61)
In her book of reminiscences, Marie-Louise, who became a prominent author in her own right, recalled the experience of posing for her portrait as a "catastrophe" requiring eighty-three sittings carried out in a warlike atmosphere. Against her wishes, Sargent selected her costume, including a cream-white silk dress that allowed for soft shadows, and insisted that she exchange her silk stockings for cotton, as he preferred a matte surface. The artist and sitter also battled over the arrangement of her hair and the placement of the torque bracelet and brooch. In the end, Sargent channeled the girl's anger into his painting, creating a wonderfully tension-filled, disquieting portrayal of the Pailleron children dominated by the willful gaze of young Marie-Louise.
Hanging nearby is Sargent's portrait of the renowned pioneer of French gynecology, Dr. Samuel-Jean Pozzi, a glamorous figure in Parisian society who was famous both for his medical advancements and his love affairs.
Left: John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). Dr. Pozzi at Home, 1881. Oil on canvas; 79 3/8 x 40 1/4 in. (201.6 x 102.2 cm). The Armand Hammer Collection, Gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Right: John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889. Oil on canvas; 87 x 45 in. (221 x 114.3 cm). Tate: Presented by Sir Joseph Duveen 1906.
Sargent presents his dashing subject in, as one critic at the time described, a "daring study in reds." With a passing reference to old master portraits of popes and cardinals by Velázquez and Van Dyck, Sargent's portrayal of Pozzi, dressed in a brilliant red dressing gown and set against a deep red background, symbolizes his medical practice and at the same time highlights the sensuous nature of his subject. Sargent offsets the red with an exquisite white lace collar, beautifully elongated hands, and an exotic beaded slipper that peeps out from the bottom of the robe.
Sargent displayed a voracious appetite for all of the performing arts, attending performances in Paris, London, Boston, and New York, and seeking out musicians, composers, dancers, singers, and actors to request that they pose for a portrait. Sargent attended the opening-night performance at the London Lyceum of the actor Ellen Terry in the role of Lady Macbeth, later writing to his friend Isabella Stewart Gardner:
Miss Terry has just come out in Lady Macbeth and looks magnificent in it, but she has not yet made up her mind to let me paint her in one of the dresses, until she is quite convinced that she is a success. From a pictorial point of view there can be no doubt about it—magenta hair!
Sargent's full-length iconic portrait of Terry, above, features her green-silk and blue-tinsel dress, which is sewn with a multitude of iridescent beetle wings, with a border of Celtic design. The dress was designed by Alice Comyns Carr, who was a close friend of the artist, and Sargent devoted great care in rendering it in all of its magnificent detail.
Another subject that Sargent sought out to paint was the young W. Graham Robertson, a gifted illustrator and theater designer who moved in London's elite art circles. When Robertson learned of Sargent's interest in painting him, he asked a mutual friend, the actress Ada Rehan (who would also be painted by Sargent), "Wants me. But good gracious why?" She responded, "He says you are so paintable: that the lines of your long overcoat—and the dog … he was tremendously enthusiastic."
During lengthy sittings held in the summer, Robertson complained about having to pose in the heavy Chesterfield overcoat shown in the portrait. To that Sargent responded, "But the coat is the picture." The result was a great masterpiece of the Aesthetic movement. The thin young man with a distracted look is wrapped in the long black coat, bearing an elegant air, and holding a jade-topped cane, with his white poodle at his feet.
Left: John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). W. Graham Robertson, 1894. Oil on canvas; 90 3/4 x 46 3/4 in. (230.5 x 118.7 cm). Tate: Presented by W. Graham Robertson 1940
In the final gallery of the exhibition, there are a series of figural compositions of Sargent's close artist friends with whom he traveled through Europe after the turn of the century. The artists Wilfrid and Jane de Glehn were frequently featured in these works, set in dazzling, light-filled landscapes. The stylish figure of Jane de Glehn is featured in In a Garden, Corfu, below. She wears an elegant white dress, which Sargent takes great care in rendering, along with the voluminous pale blue skirt that takes up much of the foreground of the painting and which the artist asked de Glehn to wear. A second friend, Eliza Wedgewood, whose head is seen at the lower right of the composition, later recalled, "I used to read literally for hours, Trevelyan's Garibaldi aloud to Jane de Glehn whilst John painted her in his robin's egg taffeta skirt …" Sargent had evidently brought the skirt from London with him on his travels in Europe for use in his figure paintings.
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). In a Garden, Corfu, 1909. Oil on canvas; 36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm). Private Collection
There are many other fascinating examples in the exhibition of Sargent's practice of dressing his subjects, and their responses—both willing and unwilling. We invite you to explore the artist's stunning renderings of costume and fabric worn by his friends. Indeed, they reveal a great deal about the artist himself.
Sources
Fairbrother, Trevor. John Singer Sargent: The Sensualist (New Haven and London: Yale University Press for the Seattle Art Museum, 2000).
Ormond, Richard, and Elaine Kilmurray. John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, vol. I (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998).
Ormond, Richard, with Elaine Kilmurray, et al. Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends (London: National Portrait Gallery, 2015).