Evening star., 1925-05-04
John Singer Sargent
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN

w dSnlnBtOn Is fortunate W lluILbtl
among it's art treasures several pic
lures by John Singer Sargent. This
greatest of Americas artists died re-
Gently in England. His infrequent
visits to Washington have always
been made in the interest of art, usu-
ally for the purpose of executing a
portrait.
White House treasures include
fine likeness of Theodore Roosevelt
done by Sargent. He also painted
an impressive picture of woodrow
Wilson, which was sent to Ireland
and is proudly displayed in the Ma
tional Gallery, Dublin Another Sar-
gent portrait of Roosevelt is owned
by James Parmelee, trustee of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art in the city
of Washington.
Mrs. Breckenridge Long and Henry
White each is the proud possessor or
landscapes by Sargent. The Freer
Gallery Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton owns The Weavers, Break
fast in the Loggia." and Landscape
With Goats" medium-sized canvases
painted in the height of the artist S
power. In the Corcoran Gallery Is
1.-The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale, a
splendid French seascape which has
an especial appeal to the young artist
for the reason that 1t was the. nrst
of Sargent's pictures TO be exhibited
in the Paris salon. 1t was panied
when he was but "A years old and
shows an astonishing maturity OF
technique and treatment.
To France and England it doubt
less seems strange that the United
States regards Sargent as representa-
tive of her genius, for he was neither
born, educated nor trained in art upon
our shores, nor did he make his resi-
dence on this side of the Atlantic.
He was. nevertheless, an American
always in his point of view, though
not in manner or appearance. Ihe
art critics are agreed that his style
of painting was characteristlcally
American.
John Singer Sargent was born in
Florence, Italy, January II. 1856:
His father, who was of New England
stock, had just retired from the prac-
tice of medicine in Philadelphia. His
mother was Mary Newbold Of the
well known Philadelphia family. She
was artistically inclined and painted
we'll in water colors.
There is no more romantic city in
Europe than far-famed Florence.
Were it possible for an artist to
choose his birthplace he could not Sc
lect better. This happy augury was
characteristic of Sargent's lot all
through life. Fortune smiled on him
at every turn. 1t is said that his ex-
istence was almost idyllic and that he
never knew the slightest hardship or
trouble. His genius was recognized
almost at once and fame and fortune
followed swiftly in his footsteps.
X
Young Sargent early showed his in
clination for art and the cultivation
of his talent was eagerly foStered by
his parents. After spending some
time as a pupil in the Academy of
Fine Art, Florence, he went TO Paris
and sought admission to the atelier
of Carolus Duran. Sargent, then IS,
exhibited his portfolio of drawings
with a modesty and ditfidence that
We're lifelong characteristics. Duran,
assuring him that he not only had
much TO learn, but also much to un-
learn. nevertheless agreed TO include
the young American among his pupils.
Sargent soon dissipated any doubt as
to his ultimate success. Not only did
he readily acquire all his master could
teach, but presently began to excel
Duran in technique.
In 1873 a canvas then titled. En-
Route Pur La Peche" CThe Fishing
EXcursion) was accepted by the Paris
/
old. Two years later his work was
that of a fully mature artist, and be-
fore he had reached 80 he was far on
the road to fame. The story OF great
art is popularly believed to be one of
heart breaking struggle for tardily
accorded recognition, lifetime of
poverty, misery and tears. So often
has il been asserted that suffering is
essential to great art. the saying is
almost aXiomatic-no great art with
out great sorrow.
Sargent's story bellies this tradition.
His was a smooth, sure progress to
the goal of his ambition. a rather un-
eventful and comparatively easy eX-
istence, almost sheltered life. Art
did not perish in his personal atf1u-
ence but grew hardy and more GER
tain. Consequently ii has been said
by many writers that Sargent was
not 4 liver of life but only an OBJ
server: that he saw everything but
felt nothing; that he was always on
the outside of the human show look
ing in, never inside participating; and
that, as a natural result of this with
drawal from the harshness and tur.
moil of life in the raw, he was rather
unfeeling and unsympathetic.
1t is hard TO believe these things
of so great an artist. The probable
truth of the matter is that due to
his bashfulness and ineXpertness as a
conversationalist as we'll as on ac-
count of his undoubted modesty, he
cultivated a somewhat impersonal
manner as a defense against boreS
and the oppressively effusiye. AT
least he was hospitable to his init
mates and his studio was always open
to friends however busy he might be
During the World War he did much
for the Red Cross and other relief
organizations.
Samuel Burtis Baker. who has al
ready gained considerable distinction
among the younger American paint
ers and whose pictures have been re
produced and highly praised in many
i-foreign lands, is in active charge OF
the Corcoran Art School of which Ed
mund Tarbell of Boston is the di
rector.
Mr. Baker says that Sargent is be
yond question essentially what is
| known as a painters painter. a su
perb technician, master and individ
ualist in composition and design, a
genuine colorist. The portraits of
General Sir Ian and Lady Hamilton
! Lady Agnew, Mrs. Carl Meyer and
children, Asher Wertheimer and Miss
Octavia Hill were named by Mr.
Baker as representative of Sargent s
| best period.
lite street, Chelsea, London, where
John Sargent lived, has long been IA
nous. James MacNeil Whistler
Thomas Carlyle, Leigh Hunt, William
Morris, Edwin A. Abbey and Oscar
Wilde all occupied houses there from
time to time. Sargent lived in or
near London since 1884, except for a
short period when he returned to
France and the odd years he spent
in travelling or in the United States
The English dispatch announcing his