About a recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

When I was in high school my favorite artist was John Singer Sargent. I really admired his technical skills, and yearned to be as good of an artist as he was when I got older. When I eventually went to art school I learned about a lot of other artists and expanded my horizons with the kind of art I admired, but Sargent has remained one of my favorites.

When I heard that the Metropolitan Museum of Art would be having an exhibit featuring his work in correlation with his time spent in Paris and Europe I knew that I had to go. Philadelphia is only about an hour and a half train ride via Amtrak, so it’s not that hard to get to New York from here. I ended up going with a friend from college, and I’m really glad that we made the trip.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882

I’ve always loved this painting. The composition is really interesting, from the way he placed the figures, to the way the tall vase feels like a figure in the piece as well, to the geometric shard of red on the right side of the painting. It’s very clear from looking at Sargent’s work that beyond painting portraits of his sitters, he also was still experimenting and playing with light, shadow, and composition in a way that brings the piece beyond just a plain portrait in my opinion.

Like the piece above, this piece intrigues me because of the composition he chose and the dynamic perspective in the piece. I love the juxtaposition of the people and the walls of the room. The color and lighting really lend themselves to the drama of the piece as well.

There was a big crowd around this piece, so I couldn’t get that close, but what drew me in and intrigued me was once again his choice of composition, and especially his choice of bright eye-catching colors. The yellow and orange behind the man in this piece are fantastic, playing off the lighter but still vibrant blue-green of the water next to him. Really stunning.

I enjoyed this piece because of it’s unique choice of subject. I like looking at the every-day in my own art, and I enjoyed this painting because he chose to focus on the wineglasses, the sitting area they are set in, and the greenery in the background. I enjoyed being able to explore his choice of colors, and the way he focused on the contrasting light and dark areas.

This piece came up relatively early in the exhibition, and I was intrigued by it. I enjoyed the way he seemed to be focusing on depicting the many different shades of white, but also the intriguing composition of the staircase. It’s almost like an abstract painting. It’s not a typical landscape for a painter during this time period, at least from what I’ve seen, but it really spoke to me because I myself like to find these little hidden places to depict in my work. I really enjoyed spending some time looking it over.

A major drawing point of this exhibition was the portrait Madame X. There’s a lot of writing on this piece out there, so I won’t go into too much detail, but to make a long story short, this piece was very controversial in it’s time (because the strap on her dress was hanging loose, and people felt it was unmoral) and was actually partially repainted after it was originally exhibited because of the outrage. To my modern senses it’s funny to me, the idea of being so angry about a strap, but beyond that talking point, it is a gorgeous painting in and of itself. I really admire his ability to depict the people he painted and bring them to life on canvas. His ability to create such meticulous portraits while experimenting with light, color, composition, and adding in quick little paint strokes to depict certain moments in the pieces, really intrigued and captivated me.

I really enjoyed this exhibition. It’s not up for much longer, so if you can’t make it to the museum to see the show yourself I highly recommend this video that the museum put out about the exhibition. I watched it before going, and even as someone who has looked at a lot of Sargent’s work and read about him before, it taught me a lot and gave me a deeper appreciation for the show once I did go.