The Uncanny Sargent: The View from Conservation

[@Citizen_X.]

Absolutely mesmerizing presentation. Well done to all involved. A must watch for all Sargent fans!

[@MsOntwos]

Fantastic presentation. So interesting. Thank you.

[@bewareofpigeons]

Fascinating and so scholarly: I have always loved Sargent, and was mystified that he was not even mentioned as a watercolourist or portrait painter when I did my art history degree; whenever I brought up his name, he was dismissed with a sniff by academics. I loved the descriptions of his techniques and have always tried to emulate him in my own watercolours. Thank you very much.

[@jonrettich4579]

I believe you’ll find when it comes to architecture he does an invariably meticulous pencil under drawing. All capable artists were happy to use any mechanical aids. The contemporary fiction of something wrong with under drawings or other aids is nonsensical even silver point could be scraped and resurfaced. Rembrandt is one of few that tended to paint directly. Opaque white was an incredibly important element in Sargent’s work especially when any architecture was involved. While other artists many purposely wanted the viewer to meanders through their work Sargent seems to dedicate himself to the instant that is seen no matter how complex the composition. Although I do not work like him he is one of my great heroes. Thank you for this presentation

[@rossroderickwhitney]

Extremely fine and informative. His murals are astounding.

[@AleadaA]

Wonderful lectures - I am a Sargent fan and as an artist I found this information very useful - Thank you!

[@ruudvanveen428]

Thank You very much for your many fabulous presentations! For some artists, who wrestle still with the kind of technical aspects you touch, this is very important information and a lot of scientific research must have been involved: Thank you for taking (the intellectual) care of great artists out of the past.

[@shuvoDhar.5537]

My favorite artist. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤❤❤❤❤

[@aatt3209]

Thank you for the series of lectures on Sargent, what a public service you/MFA are doing to educate the public on Sargent's incredible watercolors. Sargent, Wyeth, and Turner found escape from their commercial successes by doing watercolors for themselves, as a way of staying "true" to themselves.

[@northernhemisphere4906]

So you don’t consider their commercial successes as personal ones as well? Seems unintuitive to sever the two.

[@arielvalencia4583]

marvelous..Sargent is one of my favourite Artists this is really enjoyable congrats..!

[@rosezif]

I love this video, it's amazingly inspiring to know a little about Sargent's processes, thank you so much!!! 🥰🥰🥰

[@aaron2709]

(23:37) It's an oil painting, as it is vertical on an easel. Nearly all artists paint watercolors horizontal to avoid fighting drip-inducing gravity.

[@9point2010]

Thank you for sharing! These are so informative and interesting.

[@stevie68a]

Excellent observations. Thanks!

[@JiveDadson]

17:10 - A student who observed Sargent painting wrote that the apparent "speed and accuracy" could be the result of wiping out and repainting an area many, many times. He scraped away and repainted one portrait face 35 times.

[@alexschooler6992]

JiveDadson spatter painting I'm listening to "Hilary Hahn Radio" on Pandora. pdora.co/2Ds2FMcI'm listening to "Hilary Hahn Radio" on Pandora. pdora.co/2Ds2FMc

[@JOSEPH-vs2gc]

Not exactly possible with Watercolor, i think she was referring to that.

[@timowthie]

@@JOSEPH-vs2gc I think he may just have started over with watercolors and or revisited the site till satisfied.

[@magdalena-lisarobertson4143]

So wonderfully informative! Thank you!

[@lerpack455]

A very interesting lecture. Thank you for this. The painting of a self portrait with him working next to a bed…l see he is using a magnifier on a reference drawing/photo? - Interesting. The photo’s on the mountain trips were not as sharp as full or half plate shots. Perhaps a small 6x9cm folding camera was used.

[@pistolannie6500]

Love His watercolor of the girls on the grass in their billowy dresses and the little house(the very last one).

[@lonemapper]

Really enjoyed this, thank you.

[@TobermoryCat]

Fab talk, thanks so much. Curious if he used cold wax in his oil paintings - possibly also used as the resist in watercolours.

[@JiveDadson]

22:34 - That's the way to hold an oil paint brush - not like a pencil. There's a reason the handles are so long. Motion comes from the shoulder, not the fingers.

[@Fromard]

Its also good for poking snakes as they emerge from the grass. Or grasssssss.

[@ArtfulThinker]

its funny how people after hundreds of years lust and philosophize about every brush stroke this and that. I am sure that sargent painted his feeling and using great technique. When I was starting to dabble with paint I saw this kind of analysis and it paralyzed me. the task of thinking about every damn stroke and it must have a meaning was extremely tasking on my creativity. Art should be felt not analyzed if you are just starting. great lecture thou

[@Moesmakendehakker658]

It should be both. It must not be a mindless thing to do.. But also not without feeling ofcourse.

[@az55544]

​@@Moesmakendehakker658 it must be without opinion from folks like you. It's art, not a business plan or a bill being introduced into government.

[@sdalby9127]

​@@az55544 Please keep your comments civil. There is no reason to be horrid to someone with a different perspective than you. The wonderful thing about art is that there is not just one approach.

[@shubethune5748]

Impressionistic realism is the highest; while photo-realism, like modern art, although has merit, is overly done by some in a mechanical way.

[@beanstaIkjack]

Photo realism is boring to look at purely because they look like photos. I'd much rather see paintings over photos (or paintings that look like photos)

[@indoororchidsandtropicals358]

Agreed!

[@pistolannie6500]

I have to say.. I agree with Him on Redoing the Rotunda! The After is MUCH Better! I could imagine leanin back straining to look up, then see just aaalll these dark circles. Would have made me sick an dizzy!

[@dungeoneering1974]

While JSS's frescoes at the Boston MFA are impressive, it would have been wonderful if he'd painted them in his bravura style.

[@gardnep]

There are many great artists and many great portrait artists but Sargent was an American so for that reason Americans believe he must be the very best that was ever born. His paintings were more influenced by Europe than the Americas. American paintings usually have very high contrast probably a reflection of summer and the cold snow of winter.

[@carlosbarbon3855]

Annette, this isn't the watercolor easel he was using ( the one you described in the lecture). His was more a metal tripod type.

[@JOSEPH-vs2gc]

If you study the way he composed, he was clearly influenced by the Camera, its weird angles, cropping etc.

[@northernhemisphere4906]

did you capitalize a camera, like a photographic one?

[@keen6808]

What about artist's palette, lady ... it is not darkest to the lightest. It is something else.

[@northernhemisphere4906]

like what?

[@lerpack455]

l think Sargent would be laughing at some of this presentation if he could come back in a time machine bless him.

[@juanfarrell1088]

The copy of velazquez was phillip the fourth, not the fifth.

[@timowthie]

His murals have a somewhat cartoony look to them, I mean they're good but they don't really look like a Sargent.

[@cranberrycanvas]

theyre design oriented. if you look at his figure draqwing i think you'll find a parallel within the simplified shapes and outlined contours. i personally think they are absolutely beautfiul and are a merit to his versatility as an artist. it would be interesting to see them done in his usual style but i think the subject matter and location of the exhibit are just perfect and i wouldnt dare change one detail

[@nocopyrightmusic2997]

Like your Channel ;)

[@jackbailey7037]

He had a great eye and hand. But that Venice watercolor is too good, and shows as if done in a small boat! I can't buy it. If he used magic lanterns (established) then he might have had assistance from photography, perhaps a Brownie or similar portable camera, which he later projected onto watercolor paper. While projected, he could sketch the image, paint it or whatever. Many famous artists of that era are suspected of using photography, so it's not some kind of wild claim, just a hunch. Camera lucida is another option.

[@chrisgriffith1573]

Lesson one for being a famous artist: be born into wealth that can take you to France for art lessons... Proportional dividers are extremely precise for anyone who knows how to use them. Highly technical devises... chopsticks with a rubber band.

[@antononiko]

sargent not for deafs.....

[@seangelarden8753]

Tracing

[@robertocatrone715]

I love Sargents work. This tutorial however, is painful to listen to. Entirely to many filler words/Phrases used making this speaker seem at best unprepared for her lecture segment.

[@budakart]

Come to Islam n success

[@mariapilarme]

You can paint wet on wet without blending. What a silly thing to said. Obviously you don’t know much about painting, and you need to say things like that without sense to make the conference longer. I wish Sargent would be there to hear how experts analyze his paintings. A five year old can delivered the same speech. The underpainting can be a different tone, artist don’t follow rigid rules, artist create art. Sargent was Italian not American.

[@northernhemisphere4906]

So what’s your point really?