Evening star., 1925-04-23
THE NORTH WINDOW
BY LEILA MECHLIN.

The passing Of Sargent last week
was universally lamented. BY his
fellow members Of the Royal Academy
In London and the National Academy
in New York resolutions were framed
which bespoke not merely formal re"
gret, but a deep sense of loss. BY the
press of Great Britain, the United
States and foreign countries he was
acclaimed great, and by many the
greatest artist of our day.
And yet the probabilities are that
Sargent himself was not conscious OF
sense of greatness. With him, as
with others who have been likewise
richly endowed with genius, what ne
did seemed to himself but a natural
expression, and certain it is that he
did not invariably satisfy himself.
Many stories which his friends tell
witness to this fact. It is said on
good authority that. standing before
one of his own works In dealers g
gallery one day unnoticed, he was
heard to exclaim rather petulantly TO
himself: II must learn to draw"
When he was in this country few
years ago he went out with number
of artist friends for days excursion,
carrying his paint box with him. The
subject he chose to picture was a boat
in the process of building. After
painting some time he threw his
canvas aside, exclaiming with evident
only paint people" 1t was this ele-
ment of striving, this dissatisfaction
with his best, which kept him in the
front rank of painters. Unhappy in
deed is the day when an artist be-
comes self satisfied; then progress
ceases and retrogression begins.
X X
To look at one of Sargent's paint
ings one would suppose it were done
with the utmost ease. In fact, so
simple do many of his portraits ap-
pear in the matter of execution that
they inspire confidence on the part of
the less skiIlful, and induce emula-
ton. But success was not always at
Sargents finger tips. He was
extraordinarily nervous about paint
ing the portrait of Col. Roosevelt,
which was done in the White House.
He knew full well that Col. Roosevelt
had no great amount of time to spare
and was a restless sitter. He wanted
to get into his portrait something OF
Col. Roosevelt's dynamic nature, and,
like every artist, it was most difficult
for him to paint on parade-that is,
in some one else's house, amid new
surroundings, with the curious peep
ing, as they must. What happened
was that after getting the figure well
laid in he changed 1t completely,
cutting Ii off a bit, turning it ever 80
slightly, with the result, however, that
the first effort may be seen by the
close observer as a shadow on the
background, a second outline, not
| completely obliterated.
Yet the Roosevelt portrait, which
hangs now in the White House, was
a much easier work and a more sue
cessful achievement than the portrait
which he painted of President Wilson
| under strong persuasion, and, 1t is
said, against his will. Sargent had a
surprising power of what might be
/ termed psychoanalysis, of diVining
the real character back of the mask.
| 1t is for this reason that his portraits
are something more than mere like
nesses and will live as great works OF
| art. But the reticent personality OF
| President Wilson utterly baff1ed his
| power OF analysis. and as result
| the portrait which he painted was un-
| satisfactory both to himself and to
| the world 1t is well painted like
| ness but without significance; life
| less, impersonal representation of the
man who at that time came most near
| to supreme importance and to WELD
! ing world power. If Mr.. Sargent had
been asked concerning his analytical
| ability, he would probably have
answered, as did another great por-
| trait painter, that all he did was to
paint what he saw. The fact was,
| however. that he saw beneath the sur
| face He had keen perception, and
unless a person was worth while in
/ the matter of character he did not
care TO paint him or her.
y X
| How little the world thinks to
what great extent the portrait paint
er is at the mercy of his sitters. His
| task is not merely to satisfy him
| self and perchance one other, but
on the one hand he must meet the
requirements of those who regard
all paintings primarily as works OF
art-his fellow artists and art con
inoisseurs-and on the other hand he
| must crafty the person whose por-
trait he paints and satisfy the lone
| troupe of relatives and friends who
will be invited to act as jury. This
| it would rightly seem. to be almost
an impossible task. There is a pop
! illar story told of a man who com
| planned to Mr.. Sargent that the por-
| trait he had painted for him of his
wife was not a good likeness, to
which Mr. Sargent is said to have
replied, that a hundred years hence
no one would know whether it was
| a good likeness or not, but those
who were sufficiently instructed
would accurately judge whether il
were or were not a worthy work OF
art. This Is worth remembering.
| x 4 x
But. as many know, Mr.. Sargent's
portraits were. as a rule. admirable
| likenesses. When the great eXhibi-
| ton of his paintings was held in
Boston years ago, included in the
catalogue was the portrait of Mr.
John Hay, who was at that time
Secretary of State. 1t so happened
that Mr. Hay was in Boston, and as
he walked on one of that city's great
thoroughfares he noticed two young
girls approaching him from the OPP
one looked up, glanced at his face
clutched the other by the arm anG
Exclaimed audibly, with evident shock
of surprise, why there is Mr.. Sar-
gents portrait" Meeting the origina
was like discovering the portrait
come to life. Just so might one OF
us eXclaim today, meeting face tC
face the flesh and blood original OF
one of Rembrandt'S or Raeburn's
great portrait works. To no painter
could a greater compliment have
been paid. AS some one once said
it has always been as possible to
disagree about the personality OF
Sargent's portraits as about the in
dividuals themselves. When Gen
Leonard Woods portrait was frs
painted by Mr.. Sargent and placed
on view in the Corcoran Gallery o.