Sargent. Donald Wigal

made Europe their home. However, most of the Paris-trained artists returned to America and, as New York City critic James Gardner expressed it: “Modernism began hesitantly to take root on our shores.” He added: “It would be some decades before our art came into its own during the post-war years, but the seeds of that miraculous flowering were planted in Paris more than half a century before.”

      Portraits of Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron

      1881

      Oil on canvas, 152.4 × 175.3 cm

      Edith M. Usry Bequest Fund, in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Franklin Usry

      Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines

      In 1877, while visiting the Brittany Coast near Saint-Malo, Sargent painted two works with the title Oyster Gatherers of Cancale. One of these was the first of Sargent’s to be accepted by the Paris Salon, while the second was accepted by the Association of American Artists. That same year, Sargent showed a portrait of his friend Frances Watts, titled Portrait de Mile W. It was well received, except for some criticism of how the artist treated the hands of the subject.

      Doctor Samuel Jean Pozzi at Home

      1881

      Oil on canvas, 204.5 × 111.4 cm

      Armand Hammer Collection

      UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

      It is usually noted that Sargent considered that a minor criticism. However, it is interesting to see what meticulous care is given to hands in such subsequent works as Madame Edouard Pailleron (1879) and Doctor Samuel Jean Pozzi at Home (1881). Furthermore, in El Jaleo (1882) at least a dozen hands are shown, each caught during a very expressive gesture. Being a perfectionist, Sargent made several studies of details that were especially challenging, such as hands.

      Vernon Lee

      1881

      Oil on canvas, 53.7 × 43.2 cm

      Miss Vernon Lee Bequest through Miss Cooper Willis (1935)

      Tate Gallery, London

      Back in Paris in 1878, Carolus-Duran saw how accomplished his prize student Sargent had become. The master then asked his student to do a portrait of him. This portrait demonstrated Sargent’s ability to identify the “role-playing side” of the subjects who posed for him, a talent which, opined biographer Swinglehurst, “perhaps arose from his own nature and his way of coping with the world”.

      A Street in Venice

      c. 1880–1882

      Oil on canvas, 75.1 × 52.4 cm

      Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

      Throughout his life the artist displayed his talent for acting as if he actually was whatever was needed at the time. He somehow captured this quality also in his sitters. With the Carolus-Duran portrait, exhibited in the 1879 Salon, the public acknowledged that as a portraitist, Sargent had ironically surpassed the talent of even his famous teacher. It began a new chapter in the artist’s remarkable life of achievement.

      Street in Venice

      1882

      Oil on wood, 45.1 × 53.9 cm

      Gift of the Avalon Foundation

      National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

      Sargent travelled yet again during 1878 and 1879 to Spain and Morocco. He produced several works reflecting his love of the local colour, including Moorish Buildings in Sunlight and Luxembourg Gardens at Twilight, both in 1879. On his way to Andalusia, he detoured to Madrid to see the works of his hero Velázquez, which were in the Prado. There, Sargent undoubtedly saw the master’s Las Meninas (The Family of Philip IV or The Maids of Honour) (1656).

      A Venetian Interior

      c. 1882

      Oil on canvas, 48.4 × 60.8 cm

      Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown

      The influence of that work undoubtedly influenced Sargent’s portrait of The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, which was by far the most important work, produced in 1882. In it is seen the influence of Velázquez, specifically his Las Meninas. Both are portraits of a family in its own environment, caught in an unguarded moment. A distinctive feature of the Sargent masterpiece is the contrast between the large size of the room and two large Japanese vases and rug, compared to the small girls, each of whom displays a unique personality.

      Sortie de l’église (After Church) Campo San Canciano, Venice

      1882

      Oil on canvas, 59.9 × 85.1 cm

      National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

      “Relaxed and trustful, the children give Sargent an opportunity to record sensitively a gradation of young innocence – from the naïve, wondering openness of the little girl in the foreground, to the grave artlessness of the ten-year-old, to the slightly self-conscious poise of the adolescents.” A review of the 2006 Metropolitan Museum exhibit “American in Paris”, called that Sargent painting “one of the greatest paintings of children in the history of art”.

      El Jaleo

      1882

      Oil on canvas, 232 × 348 cm

      Gift of T. Jefferson Coolidge (1914)

      Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

      More obvious, Velázquez’s fascination with servants, entertainers, and dwarfs, as in A Dwarf Sitting on the Floor (Don Sebastián de Morra?) (c.1645), was caught by Sargent in his work A Dwarf at the Spanish Court (After Velázquez) (1879). Major works of this 1879 period include Among the Olive Trees, Capri, Neapolitan Children Bathing, and the portraits Madame Edouard Pailleron, and Carolus-Duran.

      The Sulphur Match

      1882

      Oil on canvas, 58.4 × 40.6 cm

      Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. Collection

      In 1880, Sargent began a six-month stay in Venice. In that year he painted at least twenty-one portraits, including Carmela Bertagna and Portrait of Ralph Curtis on the Beach at Scheveingen. One of at least forty-six non-portraits produced that year was Venetian Bead Stringers. There were also Venetian Street, A Venetian Interior and The Sulphur Match. Several of the artist’s works in the 1880s show Venetian scenes: glass workers, women in the Palazzo Rezzonico, and bead stringers.