Sargent at the Met

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In presenting an exhibition of works by John Singer Sargent, the Met has outdone itself again – or maybe I should say “overdone it again.” Going in, I was not a particular fan of Sargent, although I do consider “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit” a definite inclusion on my list of favorite 25 American paintings. There is no question that Sargent is a technical master, able to do anything he wants with paint from an early age. The question, instead, is what lies below the slick surface. In Thomas Eakins’s portraits, by contrast, the sitter’s soul shines through. With Sargent, anything resembling soul is hard to find.

The Met’s subtitle is “Portraits of Artists and Friends,” but does this really limit their ability to show anything and everything they are able to borrow? In oils, portraits is about all Sargent did, and I doubt that he painted a lot of his enemies. If the MIA’s “Birthday Party,” including a faceless Albert Besnard, can be considered a “portrait,” there’s not much that doesn’t qualify. There is a range, indeed, between formal commissioned works and casual sketches, but that doesn’t prevent a certain monotony from taking over.

Out of 92 paintings in the show, there are 13 I really liked. These include portraits of some of Sargent’s famous friends – Henry James, William Merritt Chase, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carolus-Duran – a couple names I don’t know – Pozzi (from the Hammer), Coventry Patmore – and at least one beautiful woman – Mlle Millet. Most interesting are the few examples of double portraits, including the Stevenson, where Sargent’s creativity shines. But so many of the others are, dare I say it, rather boring. How much better for Sargent’s reputation would it have been to have an exhibit of 25, or even 45, of the better works, with variations in format. But that’s not the Met’s way.

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