Saturday, December 15, 2018

Sargent Painting Mrs. Fiske Warren

Photo of John Singer Sargent painting Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and her daughter Rachel at the Fenway Court in Boston (now the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), where Sargent had set up a temporary studio.

Sargent painting Mrs. Fiske Warren, 1903

The painted figures are approximately life size. The large canvas held vertically with the subjects' head in the painting close to Sargent's line of sight. 
"Sargent arranged Mrs. Warren and her daughter in grand Renaissance armchairs, and used an elaborate gilt candelabra and a fifteenth-century polychrome Madonna and Child as a backdrop. This sculpture inspired the unusual pose of mother and daughter: Rachel rests her head on her mother’s shoulder in imitation of the tender gesture of the Virgin and Child." Read more on the Museum of Fine Arts website.
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1 comment:

Timothy Bollenbaugh said...

James: Apologies for addressing yesterday's post here (it'd get buried). You've resolved becoming restricted by recommending studying and copying many styles, and setting references aside (vs way) for the final. And, you posted an example of a realist who, after a slight stroke, had to switch hands and had to make the most of mass forms resulting in a more accurate yet expressive realism.
Wonderful posts from experience!