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Published: 12 August, 2010
by JOHN EVANS

AN exhibition of John Sargent’s work at the Royal Academy showcases paintings of great power and intimacy.
By John Evans

A trip to Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath could prove good preparation for the latest Royal Academy exhibition. For among the Kenwood treasures are the portrait of the 19th Countess of Suffolk Margaret Hyde and what is known as the Iveagh Seapiece.

The first is the work  of a great portraitist, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), painted at the height of his powers at the age of 42; the second, otherwise known as Coast Scene of Fishermen Hauling a Boat Ashore, is by JMW Turner (1775-1851), painted when he was still in his 20s.

Sargent acknowledged his admiration for Turner and the RA’s new show highlights the precocious talents of a very young Sargent and his own early fascination with the sea. It features more than 70 works from 1874 to about 1879.

The artist was born in Florence to American parents – he came from a ship-owning family from Massachusetts – but voyaged to America for the first time in 1876 with his mother and sister. He became well-travelled, spoke four languages and was acknowledged as a star pupil in the Paris studio of portraitist Carolus-Duran, from whom he learnt his mastery of tonal realism.

Many of the exhibition’s paintings were created from the experience of Sargent’s 1876 voyages, but very little of America or its people. While there, Sargent made a pencil sketch of The Shipwreck, Turner’s painting of 1805, and was himself inspired by the Atlantic.

The powerful results can be seen in such works as Atlantic Storm, and Mid-Ocean, Mid-Winter, where the focus is clear – there is no land in sight. And while there is an intimate picture of his mother on deck during the crossing, this is not a typical depiction of society life aboard ship, so fashionable at the time.  

Co-curator Sarah Cash of the Corcoran gallery Washington DC, where the exhibition first ran, describes these early marine paintings as “…a remarkable body of work for such a young artist”.

For they also include three major exhibition pieces prepared in styles designed specifically for the relevant audiences. En Route pour la peche was shown at the Paris Salon in 1878; Fishing for Oysters at Cancale, in New York the same year; and Neapolitan Children Bathing, also in New York, a year later.

“Rediscovered” works such as the original study for the Paris Salon piece and a seascape originally gifted to fellow artist Adolph Hirsch are among other highlights of the show. A number of water­colours from the first decade of the 20th century and reflecting the artist’s love of Venice, are in­cluded here by the Royal Academy, to which Sargent was elected in 1898.

• Sargent and the Sea, The Sackler Wing of Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, until September 26. Admission £10, concessions available. www.royalacadmy.org.uk