The Uncanny Sargent: The View from Conservation

Hear the behind-the-scenes story of how the MFA's extraordinary collection of John Singer Sargent's portrait paintings, murals, watercolors, and drawings have been treated by conservators. The Speakers share technical insights and discuss Sargent's work as seen through the eyes of conservation.
Lydia Vagts, associate conservator, Paintings Conservation
Annette Manick, head, Paper Conservation
November 19, 2013

Пікірлер: 51

  • @jonrettich4579
    @jonrettich45792 жыл бұрын

    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

  • @Citizen_X.
    @Citizen_X. Жыл бұрын

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

  • @bewareofpigeons
    @bewareofpigeons2 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @MsOntwos
    @MsOntwos Жыл бұрын

    Fantastic presentation. So interesting. Thank you.

  • @shuvoDhar.5537
    @shuvoDhar.55372 жыл бұрын

    My favorite artist. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤❤❤❤❤

  • @pistolannie6500
    @pistolannie650010 ай бұрын

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

  • @rossroderickwhitney
    @rossroderickwhitney2 жыл бұрын

    Extremely fine and informative. His murals are astounding.

  • @ruudvanveen428
    @ruudvanveen428 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @AleadaA
    @AleadaA3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @rosezif
    @rosezif2 жыл бұрын

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

  • @arielvalencia4583
    @arielvalencia45836 жыл бұрын

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

  • @9point2010
    @9point20107 жыл бұрын

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

  • @stevie68a
    @stevie68a4 жыл бұрын

    Excellent observations. Thanks!

  • @magdalena-lisarobertson4143
    @magdalena-lisarobertson41434 жыл бұрын

    So wonderfully informative! Thank you!

  • @lonemapper
    @lonemapper7 жыл бұрын

    Really enjoyed this, thank you.

  • @aatt3209
    @aatt32093 жыл бұрын

    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

    @northernhemisphere4906

    2 жыл бұрын

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

  • @TobermoryCat
    @TobermoryCat6 жыл бұрын

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

  • @lerpack455
    @lerpack455 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @JiveDadson
    @JiveDadson6 жыл бұрын

    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

    @alexschooler6992

    6 жыл бұрын

    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

    @JOSEPH-vs2gc

    5 жыл бұрын

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

  • @timowthie

    @timowthie

    5 жыл бұрын

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

  • @pistolannie6500
    @pistolannie650010 ай бұрын

    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!

  • @shubethune5748
    @shubethune57484 жыл бұрын

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

  • @beanstaIkjack

    @beanstaIkjack

    4 жыл бұрын

    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

    @indoororchidsandtropicals358

    3 жыл бұрын

    Agreed!

  • @JiveDadson
    @JiveDadson6 жыл бұрын

    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

    @Fromard

    4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @ArtfulThinker
    @ArtfulThinker2 жыл бұрын

    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

    @Moesmakendehakker658

    2 жыл бұрын

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

  • @dungeoneering1974
    @dungeoneering1974 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @lerpack455
    @lerpack455 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @nocopyrightmusic2997
    @nocopyrightmusic29976 жыл бұрын

    Like your Channel ;)

  • @carlosbarbon3855
    @carlosbarbon38556 жыл бұрын

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

  • @gardnep
    @gardnep Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @JOSEPH-vs2gc
    @JOSEPH-vs2gc5 жыл бұрын

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

  • @northernhemisphere4906

    @northernhemisphere4906

    2 жыл бұрын

    did you capitalize a camera, like a photographic one?

  • @keen6808
    @keen68083 жыл бұрын

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

  • @northernhemisphere4906

    @northernhemisphere4906

    2 жыл бұрын

    like what?

  • @juanfarrell1088
    @juanfarrell10884 жыл бұрын

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

  • @timowthie
    @timowthie5 жыл бұрын

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

  • @cranberrycanvas

    @cranberrycanvas

    4 жыл бұрын

    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

  • @chrisgriffith1573
    @chrisgriffith15733 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @jackbailey7037
    @jackbailey70378 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @seangelarden8753
    @seangelarden87534 жыл бұрын

    Tracing

  • @antononiko
    @antononiko2 жыл бұрын

    sargent not for deafs.....

  • @budakart
    @budakart Жыл бұрын

    Come to Islam n success

  • @robertocatrone715
    @robertocatrone7152 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @mariapilarme
    @mariapilarme4 жыл бұрын

    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

    @northernhemisphere4906

    2 жыл бұрын

    So what’s your point really?