John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal
John Singer Sargent (1856鈥�1925) was one of the greatest portrait artists of his time. While he is best known for his powerful paintings, he largely ceased painting portraits in 1907 and turned instead to charcoal drawings to satisfy portrait commissions. These drawn portraits represent a substantial, yet often overlooked, part of his practice, and they demonstrate the same sense of immediacy, psychological sensitivity, and mastery of chiaroscuro that animate Sargent鈥檚 sitters on canvas. The first major exhibition to explore the artist鈥檚 expressive portraits in charcoal, John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal will recognize the sheer scale of Sargent鈥檚 achievement as a portrait draftsman. Important international loans, from both public and private collections, will showcase Sargent鈥檚 sitters, many of them famous for their roles in politics, society, and the arts. The exhibition will also explore the friendships and the networks of patronage that underpinned Sargent鈥檚 practice as a portrait draftsman in Edwardian Britain and Progressive Era America.
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John Singer Sargent (1856鈥�1925) was one of the greatest portrait artists of his time. While he is best known for his powerful paintings, he largely ceased painting portraits in 1907 and turned instead to charcoal drawings to satisfy portrait commissions. These drawn portraits represent a substantial, yet often overlooked, part of his practice, and they demonstrate the same sense of immediacy, psychological sensitivity, and mastery of chiaroscuro that animate Sargent鈥檚 sitters on canvas. The first major exhibition to explore the artist鈥檚 expressive portraits in charcoal, John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal will recognize the sheer scale of Sargent鈥檚 achievement as a portrait draftsman. Important international loans, from both public and private collections, will showcase Sargent鈥檚 sitters, many of them famous for their roles in politics, society, and the arts. The exhibition will also explore the friendships and the networks of patronage that underpinned Sargent鈥檚 practice as a portrait draftsman in Edwardian Britain and Progressive Era America.
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鈥淎sk me to paint your gates, your fences, your barns, which I should gladly do, but not the human face,鈥� wrote the great portraitist John Singer Sargent in 1907.
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