Singer Sargent Course

Yesterday I attended the first edition of a course on the painter John Singer Sargent.

It soon became clear that I had not read the course materials carefully enough – it was actually a drawing course based on the technique and style of Singer Sargent.

It’s been many years since I picked up a paintbrush so I did not participate.

One lady student did rather pressurise me into having a go.

The course tutor, a portraitist herself, accepted my limitations and I in turn complimented her on her knowledge of the American society portraitist and her illuminating introduction.

In brief, Sargent was born in Florence in 1856.

His father was a wealthy eye surgeon and, after his mother had a breakdown following the death of his elder sister, Sargent moved to France, studied in Paris at the École des Beaux Arts , befriended Claude Monet and became a successful society portraitist and landscapist.

My favourite picture of his conforms to neither genre.

As a war painter his depiction of World War One soldiers “Gassed” is profoundly moving.

The course centred on his portraiture but also the current exhibition at Tate Modern on Sargent and Fashion with the scandalous picture of Madame X

As it happened the lady mentioned above who pressurised me was doubly embarrassed. First, her mobile phone went off and, secondly, she broke wind. She tried to pass this off but as the old saying goes:

“ He/she who denied it, supplied it …”