DOI Heft:
No. 84 (March, 1900)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: The art of John S. Sargent, R. A., [2]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19784#0124
John S. Sargent, R.A'.
woman more material for artistic expression than Mr. Sargent's record, not only on account of its
he could collect by borrowing second-hand impres- own attractiveness, but also because it has a marked
sions from the past. The more he trained his significance as a revelation of a side of his character
instinctive capacities, the more he convinced him- that his portraits, by the very nature of the restric-
self that he would be most at home in that class of tions under which they are produced, cannot
pictorial realism which, if it is treated properly, emphasise so brilliantly. His previous efforts in
makes the greatest demands upon the intelligence picture-painting had been surprising for the dash
and selective power of the painter. and vigour of their brush-work, amazing on account
Yet he has not hesitated to make occasional of the audacity with which he had grappled with
divergences into other walks of art. At com- problems of movement and with new ideas of
paratively rare intervals his fancy has been allowed arrangement, or interesting because they asserted
opportunities to show itself, or rather his observa- the claim of a young man, a new recruit in the
tion has been exercised upon material of a less army of art workers, to a place among the best
precise and definite character. Nature in the members of his profession. But Carnation, Lily,
wider sense has occupied him rather than the Lily, Rose pointed clearly to the development in
isolated individuality of a particular person ; and his mind of that high sense of decoration which is
the more elusive truths of atmosphere and aerial an indispensable part of the equipment of every
colour have been used by him as pictorial motives, artist who aspires to real greatness. Through the
The few things that he has
accomplished in this direc-
tion have had a peculiar
value, because they have
stamped him as the pos-
sessor of what is a rare
faculty in a realist, a poetic
feeling for beauties of illu-
mination. His Carnation,
Lily, Lily, Rose, for in-
stance, which was bought
in 1887 by the Trustees of
the Chantrey Fund, may
well be taken as a typical
example of the successful
combination of fantastic
design with supreme accu-
racy in the record of subtle
facts. It is studied,
balanced, and carefully
thought out, but it is none
the less spontaneous and
original, an inspiration full
of freshness and delicate
beauty. The artist, in
attempting it, showed that
he had in him the imagina-
tive perception, which finds
food for thought in Nature's
slightest suggestions, and
in this expression of the
subject he made quite evi-
dent the adaptability of his
technical method.
This picture, indeed,
claims a place to itself in study lor "carnation, lily, lily, rose" isy j. s. sargent, k.a.
111
woman more material for artistic expression than Mr. Sargent's record, not only on account of its
he could collect by borrowing second-hand impres- own attractiveness, but also because it has a marked
sions from the past. The more he trained his significance as a revelation of a side of his character
instinctive capacities, the more he convinced him- that his portraits, by the very nature of the restric-
self that he would be most at home in that class of tions under which they are produced, cannot
pictorial realism which, if it is treated properly, emphasise so brilliantly. His previous efforts in
makes the greatest demands upon the intelligence picture-painting had been surprising for the dash
and selective power of the painter. and vigour of their brush-work, amazing on account
Yet he has not hesitated to make occasional of the audacity with which he had grappled with
divergences into other walks of art. At com- problems of movement and with new ideas of
paratively rare intervals his fancy has been allowed arrangement, or interesting because they asserted
opportunities to show itself, or rather his observa- the claim of a young man, a new recruit in the
tion has been exercised upon material of a less army of art workers, to a place among the best
precise and definite character. Nature in the members of his profession. But Carnation, Lily,
wider sense has occupied him rather than the Lily, Rose pointed clearly to the development in
isolated individuality of a particular person ; and his mind of that high sense of decoration which is
the more elusive truths of atmosphere and aerial an indispensable part of the equipment of every
colour have been used by him as pictorial motives, artist who aspires to real greatness. Through the
The few things that he has
accomplished in this direc-
tion have had a peculiar
value, because they have
stamped him as the pos-
sessor of what is a rare
faculty in a realist, a poetic
feeling for beauties of illu-
mination. His Carnation,
Lily, Lily, Rose, for in-
stance, which was bought
in 1887 by the Trustees of
the Chantrey Fund, may
well be taken as a typical
example of the successful
combination of fantastic
design with supreme accu-
racy in the record of subtle
facts. It is studied,
balanced, and carefully
thought out, but it is none
the less spontaneous and
original, an inspiration full
of freshness and delicate
beauty. The artist, in
attempting it, showed that
he had in him the imagina-
tive perception, which finds
food for thought in Nature's
slightest suggestions, and
in this expression of the
subject he made quite evi-
dent the adaptability of his
technical method.
This picture, indeed,
claims a place to itself in study lor "carnation, lily, lily, rose" isy j. s. sargent, k.a.
111