PDF Thoughts on Art and Life by Leonardo da Vinci by Leonardo da Vinci in Arts-Photography

Description

Painter of languid; elegant; Edwardian beauties and sharply dressed gentlemen; John Singer Sargent was the ultimate society painter. He knew everyone who was anyone and was on personal terms with many of them; including Edward VII and the U.S. presidents Roosevelt and Wilson. This social standing was justified. Sargent was one of the greatest portrait painters ever; able to convey the personality and style of his sittersmdash;comparable to the great Velaacute;zquez himself; of whom he was a great admirer. Sargent was born in Florence; Italy; in early January 1856 while his American parents were on an extended European tour that turned into a lifetime of travel. Sargent would continue the traveling tradition that he was born into for the whole of his life. Sargent never married and never had children; but his much younger sister; Violet; was a frequent subject of his paintings; watercolors; and sketches. From 1897 to 1907; Sargent was in great demand as a portraitist; on both sides of the Atlantic. By 1907; however; he had wearied of the portrait and turned his attention to landscapes; primarily done as watercolors. In 1918; during WWI; Sargent traveled to the Western Front in France. What he witnessed there would inspire his next major work; Gassed; which currently hangs in the Imperial War Museums in London. Sargent had a rare wide-ranging talent and pursued it agressively.