From the beginning his work was characterized by remarkable technical facility, particularly in his ability to draw with a brush, which in later years inspired admiration as well as criticism for a supposed superficiality. Sargent enjoyed international acclaim as a portrait painter, although not without controversy and some critical reservation an early submission to the Paris Salon, his Portrait of Madame X, was intended to consolidate his position as a society painter, but it resulted in scandal instead. His parents were American, but he was trained in Paris prior to moving to London. His oeuvre documents worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. John Singer Sargent (/ˈsɑːrdʒənt/ Janu– April 14, 1925) was an American artist, considered the 'leading portrait painter of his generation' for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. Memorial exhibitions were held on both sides of the Atlantic: in Boston, New York, and London in 1925-1926. After the retrospective, the artist returned to London, where he died of heart disease. In 1924, Sargent’s retrospective exhibition was held at the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York. The painting was commissioned by the British government who asked Sargent to create a large painting that embodied the idea of Anglo-American cooperation during World War I. One of his significant later works was the war painting Gassed (1919). At that time Sargent painted portraits of distinguished figures like Theodore Roosevelt, actress Dame Ellen Terry and author Henry James.īy 1910 Sargent gave up portraiture and focused his attention on painting murals and landscapes. His international reputation reached its peak in the 1890s and early 1900s. He enjoyed an upscale clientele of aristocrats, wealthy businesspeople, artists, and performers from Europe and America. The painting dazzled critics and audiences, and Sargent was once again in demand. However, this changed in 1887 when he exhibited the painting Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (1885-1886), an image of two children lighting Chinese lanterns at dusk. The scandal of Madame X followed Sargent to England: London patrons were wary of Sargent’s “French style” and he struggled to secure commissions. Discouraged and humiliated by the scandal, Sargent left Paris and moved to London. Sargent defended his work and refused to take it down even in the face of mounting pressure from Gautreau’s mother, who blamed the portrait for ruining her daughter’s reputation. While the painting received some praise, it was mostly ridiculed and dismissed as a distasteful display of vanity. Sargent’s career suffered a setback at the 1884 Paris Salon where he exhibited Madame X (1883-1884), the portrait of the young socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. He received positive critiques for portraits like Portrait of Frances Sherborne Ridley Watts (1877) and subject paintings like El Jaleo (1882). In the late 1870s and early 1880s, Sargent was building his reputation in Paris. In Sargent’s case, the use of the Impressionist technique is noticeable in landscape paintings like Washerwomen (ca. Sargent also experimented with Impressionist techniques at the influence of Claude Monet, whom he met at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. During his travels, he painted many genre scenes, such as Rosina, Capri (1878) and Venetian Bead Stringers (1880-1882). After leaving the studio in 1878, Sargent concentrated on building his craft, traveling through Europe and methodically studying works of old masters in Holland, Spain, and Venice.

He showed his artistic inclinations at a young age, and in 1874 he began his formal training at the Paris studio of Carolus-Duran. Born in Italy to American parents, Sargent spent his childhood traveling through Europe. A prolific artist, he produced around 900 oil paintings, over 2,000 watercolors and even more sketches and preliminary studies. John Singer Sargent was one of the leading portraits painters of his generation, creating images of Edwardian Era high society.

Portrait painter