Comparisons to Monet Bothered This Artist. Now They’re Side by Side.
In an October 18th posting, the blog on The Art Institutes, which contains the work of artist John Singer Sargent, took notice of a new work by the same artist, now displayed in a new museum. One of the museum’s curators, who spoke to Sargent in his studio, revealed that he had been told the museum wanted to compare his work to paintings by Monet.
The comment puzzled Sargent, who wrote the blog entry below as an explanation of how he felt he could not have found a comparable piece of work by Monet, who, among other things, was celebrated for his use of color and depth of field in his paintings.
It also seems that Sargeant may have been referring to the work of another well-known artist, John Constable (1776-1837), who used color and depth of field to great effect, not to mention how he used his own imagination and style to create his own distinctive work.
A comparison with Monet’s work is indeed available, for example, in a recent exhibition at the National Gallery.
One of the reasons I like Sargeant’s work is because of how he uses depth of field, something that many painters don’t do.
He was a real painter of the 19th century, and his paintings are, in my opinion, some of the most amazing works of art known to man.
It seems that Sargent has come full circle, and will be remembered as a master of the medium.
John Singer Sargent was born on February 24th, 1856 in New York City.
He married on June 9th, 1874 in New York City.
In his later years, he became known as an academic painter, producing etchings, watercolors and oil paintings.
He died on November 5, 1913 in New York City.
He was only 56 years old.
We will have to stay out of it for now, but if the story is true, maybe it’s time to bring back John Sargent’s art to life through a documentary film.
Art Institute of Chicago.
