Hi Beautiful People!

 SARGENT: Portraits of Artists and Friends exhibition at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art  will be showing until October 4, 2015.

John Singer Sargent, a celebrated American artist and genius of the nineteenth century, spent most of his life living and training in Europe. Art and illustration was a family heritage for him. Sargent, born in Italy to American expatriates, is known for his oil and watercolor paintings, sketches, and charcoal drawings.

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–-1925 London) Group with Parasols (Siesta), around 1904–5 Oil on canvas 22–3/8 × 28–9/16 in. (56.8 × 72.5 cm) Private Collection

Here is an excerpt from the Metropolitan Museum of Art website:

“Throughout his career, the celebrated American painter John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) created exceptional portraits of artists, writers, actors, dancers, and musicians, many of whom were his close friends. As a group, these portraits—many of which were not commissioned—are often highly charged, intimate, witty, idiosyncratic, and more experimental than his formal portraiture. Brilliant works of art and penetrating character studies, they are also records of relationships, influences, aspirations, and allegiances.

Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends brings together ninety-two of the artist’s paintings and drawings of members of his impressive artistic circle. The individuals seen through Sargent’s eyes represent a range of leading figures in the creative arts of the time such as artists Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin, writers Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and the actor Ellen Terry, among others. The exhibition features some of Sargent’s most celebrated full-length portraits (Dr. Pozzi at Home, Hammer Museum), his dazzling subject paintings created in the Italian countryside (Group with Parasols [Siesta], private collection), and brilliant watercolors (In the Generalife, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) alongside lesser-known portrait sketches of his intimate friends (Vernon Lee, 1881, Tate). The exhibition explores the friendships between Sargent and his artistic sitters, as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.”

Here are some of my favorites portraits from the Exhibition.

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London) Dr. Pozzi at Home, 1881 Oil on canvas 79–3/8 × 40–1/4 in. (201.6 × 102.2 cm) The Armand Hammer Collection, Gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation.    Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

The red robe in this portrait is striking against red background and his hand on his hip expresses that he really is a man of character. Dr. Pozzi also appears very comfortable in front of the canvas.  I wonder what he’s thinking about with those wayward eyes? He looks to be deep in thought.

John Singer SargentAmerican, 1856-1925 The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, 1907 Oil on canvas71.4 x 56.5 cm (28 1/8 x 22 1/4 in.) Friends of American Art Collection 1914.57 The Art Institute of Chicago

This relaxing portrait above has such a beautiful backdrop with the trees and the architectural details.
The artist looks intently at her subject while her companion is offering his critics of the work.

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife 1885 Oil on canvas

This interesting portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife gives the impression that the artist is a voyeur and should not be there.
Stevenson’s wife looks like she has other things on her mind then her husband. Stevenson appears to be walking away with a perplexed look on his face and wondering why wife is so uninterested, or maybe why am I, the viewer of the painting, is looking at him.

If you live in the New York area or are planning a trip to the Big Apple, a trip to the Met to see this exhibition needs to be on your to-do list.