In my mind, no artist is more skilled in the bravura manner of painting than American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Known for his bold, precise, economic brushwork, Sargent's oil paintings are simply breathtaking. His drawings and watercolors seem just as effortless. However, such results came from great deliberation, as Sargent was known to repeatedly scrape away his attempts until satisfied.
Sargent was born in Florence, Italy in 1856 to American parents. He studied briefly in Florence before continuing his studies in Paris with Carolus-Duran at the École des Beaux Arts. He established himself as a premiere portrait painter of the upper class, often traveling between England and America for business. His U.S. commissions include the official White House portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Here in Boston, where Sargent had strong New England roots, the city proudly maintains a heavy presence of his work at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MFA), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston Public Library, and The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.