John Singer Sargent: Romance, Drama, and the Visual World Part 1- Presented by Janet Mandel Online
John Singer Sargent was an American artist who spent most of his life in Europe. He painted two United States Presidents, the aristocracy of Europe, the uber-wealthy of America, and mythological heroes. But he also painted gypsies, tramps, street children, hard-working laborers, as well as the horrors of war. And he created dazzling landscapes—a visual chronicle of the places he visited. Part I of this talk will feature many works from his early career in Paris when his infamous portrait Madame X caused a scandal at the Paris Salon. Part II will reveal how Sargent recovered from near ruin by gaining popularity as a portraitist among wealthy and prominent families in England and America. He then reinvented himself as a muralist, creating cycles of classical and allegorical subjects for public buildings. Sargent’s creative versatility had a lasting impact on the art world, and in this talk, we will experience many of his brilliant paintings, luminous watercolors, and monumental murals.