Classic in close up John Singer Sargent’s Miss Priestly, c.1889, oil on canvas, 91.4x63.5cm


John Singer Sargent was one of America’s fi nest painters, mixing fl uid Impressionistic brushwork with a striking graphic style. Steve Pill explores the techniques used to create one of his most popular and enduring society portraits


SARGENT AVOIDED HARD EDGES – EACH AREA OF COLOUR WAS OVERLAPPED BY HALF AN INCH AND FUSED INTO EACH OTHER


SEVERAL SITTERS AND PUPILS NOTED THAT SARGENT WOULD CONSTANTLY STEP BACK FROM HIS EASEL


AFTER ALMOST EVERY FEW BRUSHSTROKES. DOING SO ENABLED HIM TO VIEW EACH PAINTING OBJECTIVELY, KEEP THE TONES SUBTLE AND AVOID DISTORTING THE PERSPECTIVE BY WORKING TOO CLOSE


A STRIKING OMISSION John Singer Sargent learned his craft in the salons and academies of 1870s Europe and this striking example of his work depicts the American painter’s friend, Miss Flora Priestly. The art critic George Moore noted that “the portrait tells us that [Sargent] has learned the last and most diffi cult lesson – how to omit”, something he picked up from studying the work of Frans Hals. Art tutors will often recommend you work either light to


NOTE HOW SARGENT DRAWS THE VIEWER’S EYE BY ECHOING THE SITTER’S


SCARLET LIPS IN THE RED OF THE FLOWERS


62 Artists & Illustrators


WHERE TO FIND IT… Americans in Florence: Sargent


Palazzo Strozzi, Florence www.palazzostrozzi.org


dark or dark to light, depending upon the medium that you are working with, yet Sargent would begin his portraits by painting in the mid-tones. Only once the various masses of the portrait were established would he begin to add the lightest and darkest tones. Cleverly, the artist saved the largest


and the American Impressionists 3 March – 15 July


tonal contrast for the face, where her stark white skin and luscious black hair combine to provide a strong focal point. This approach to composition is explored in more depth in this month’s other articles on chiaroscuro and composing with tone.


SARGENT ACHIEVED HIS FLUID BRUSHWORK BY INSISTING ON GOOD QUALITY, LARGE-HEADED BRUSHES THAT HE COULD LOAD WITH PLENTY OF


PAINT. HE BELIEVED THIS ALLOWED HIM TO MAKE CONFIDENT, LONGER STROKES RATHER THAN TIMIDLY DABBING AT THE SURFACE


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