Richardson Rambles

On view at the Tate Britain until July 7, 2024 is an exhibit featuring American portraitist John Singer Sargent and focusing on the painter’s highly developed sense of scenography and willingness to sacrifice accuracy to achieve impact.  Sargent had a strong sense of style and an even stronger sense for how an image could be modified to achieve the greatest impact.  He developed such recognition for this skill that when women and men of his era purchased clothing, they asked, “Will it paint”?  This was a tacit acknowledgement that not only did clothing have to be fashionable, attractive, fit well, and enhance one’s appearance, it also had to have that je ne sais quoi that would inspire a man like Sargent to want to capture the outfit on canvas.

The exhibit is quite large, encompassing 60 paintings and includes some of the actual dresses and accessories depicted in the paintings.

Sargent claimed to “paint what he saw”, but he often manipulated clothing: pinning, draping, tucking, layering and manipulating clothing to bend the visual image to his internal eye.  When even that tinkering failed to achieve the desired result, he manipulated the painted image: changing or eliminating dress straps, clothing colors, and frequently making clothing much less fussy than it was in the period.  The result were images that were striking, impactful, and pure in form, but sometimes scandalous in interpretation.

All this said, the exhibit was outstanding, and I highly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to see it.  Here are some images.

One of Sargent’s dear friends, and he appeared to have many, may have been surprised when he discarded her rather innocent white dress, prim décolletage, and book for a much racier black and white garment with a rose-tinted shawl and provocative pose.

Another of his friends, Sybill Sassoon, posed in a dress with a pose reminiscent of the portrait of Anne of Austria, Queen of Spain.  Photographs of Sybill are less sympathetic than the portrait.

We loved this portrait because of the mischievous dog.

Sargent’s most notorious painting was of Virginie Gautreau, a young woman living in Paris. According to both Sargent and his model, Virginie, one of her dress straps had slipped off her shoulder, and Sargent painted it thus.  However, subsequent criticism and accusations of sensationalism and attention-seeking, caused Sargent to repaint the strap in its “proper” place. 

This mother and child portrait is enchanting.  We found the strong contrast between the mother’s back gown and the son’s while sailor suit quite stunning.

How cool is this portrait – a female professional, headmistress at a fancy school, mistress of her own fate and cool as a cucumber.  Interesting sidebar – aniline (synthetic) black dye was patented in 1863, creating an intense black color that had never before been seen in clothing.  Perfect for painted imagery.

I’m conflicted about this image.  Both the painting and the original dress were on display.  As a Spaniard by heritage, I was so excited to see that the woman in the image “La Carmencita” had achieved world renown for her dancing.  Unfortunately, the curators also displayed a Library of Congress video of La Carmencita “dancing”.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-15jwb1ZTMA.    In addition to the poor dancing, from the video you can also see how much Sargent flattered his models.  This was perhaps one source of his popularity as a portraitist.

This image scared the critics even more than Virginie Gautreau’s portrait did.  Apparently, they found it too authoritative and too austere – in other words, too masculine.

Of course, none of the critics had anything detrimental to say about this portrait of Major Henry Lee Higginson, Civil War veteran, Harvard College fellow, banker, and philanthropist, who proudly sports a Civil War scar on his right cheek.

I really loved this portrait of a young woman and have to ask, “Am I the only one who thinks she is a dead ringer for Emma Stone?”  Just sayin’.

I’ll leave you with some final favorite images.  My words cannot do them justice.  Enjoy.

And finally, my absolute favorite.  This portrait is so charming.  While set in an elegant room, the editorial choices: cutting off the flowers in the vase on the piano, the piano itself, the dress, and the flowerpot on the floor create a sensation of intimacy – just what we might see if we were present in the room.  The model’s delicate features and tasteful dress suggest warmth and empathy, while the hand, posed proprietarily on the piano keys and the bright red flowers in the model’s hand and hair hint at the quiet confidence underneath the delicate image.