Arts Vanity: Thank You, John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent, the iconic American painter behind some of Boston’s most beautiful murals, is severely underrated, and it goes back to the Victorian era. I’m here to give him his due.

Just because Sargent is underrated doesn’t mean that he isn’t popular. Sargent has been a museum gallery staple since he started painting in the late 19th century; in fact, his work was our very own Fogg Museum’s first purchase from a living artist back in 1916. He was commissioned by Harvard to paint the towering murals in Widener — read The Crimson’s coverage here. He continues to have shows dedicated to his work, like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s recent “Fashioned by Sargent” exhibition.

But Sargent has always been a bit too popular for his own good. It started with his contemporaries, who ceded that he had raw talent but critiqued his portraits for their commercial nature. Sargent was also seen as conservative for sticking to portraiture and simple watercolors instead of joining modern movements like the Impressionists. He got in trouble for his scandalous portrait of a woman with a bare shoulder, entitled “Madame X,” and stirred controversy with his mural work. Today, his art is more appreciated, but he doesn’t stand among the big-name museum giants like Monet or van Gogh. He is often misunderstood as a snobby relic of the past, or lumped in with his scandals, or simply seen as talented but not visionary.

So, why should you like Sargent? For now, I’ll point to what he did for Boston. Sargent never really had a definitive base. He was born in Florence to American parents and hopped around Italy, Switzerland, Spain, France, Britain, and the United States. Yet, Boston was the closest thing that Sargent had to a home — he had an affinity for the city, called it his American home, and considered himself a Bostonian. And he left his mark on this region — in almost any New England museum, you will see his art, and he helped support the Boston art scene during the Gilded Age alongside his friend, Isabella Stewart Gardner. And, more than this historical significance, his art will teach you something.

Sargent’s paintings contain deep insights into a time that has disappeared — both the decadent upper class of the Gilded Age and the other side of society that art often ignored. You can look at his art and see how much a person can give away with a gaze, a dress, a turn of the head. His art will revolutionize how you understand a portrait, but also how you decode society and its mores.

I am thankful for Sargent’s art for these lessons, but also for personal reasons. Writing about his work landed me a job at the Harvard Art Museums, where I give tours on his paintings and more. As a pre-law student, this job is probably my only opportunity to navigate the art world, and I owe it to Sargent. I don’t study art history, but chasing Sargent’s backstory has brought me to a diverse array of museums, inspired me to write about art history in various publications, and made me devour books about American artists. Most importantly, his art has taught me to sit with what I find beautiful. I have spent countless hours staring at his work and finding absolute calm — something that’s hard to pin down these days.

There are two takeaways from all of this. One: Look a little more closely at the next John Singer Sargent picture that you see. They’re everywhere in Boston, and they’re worth getting to know. Two: Take a moment to be grateful for the art that you love the most. It has made you who you are. Cherish that — if I’ve learned anything from over 70 arts articles, it’s that art is much more impactful than you might think.

So, thank you, John Singer Sargent. You’ll never meet me, but when I look at the world through your eyes, it’s almost like I know you.

—When she’s not fangirling over her favorite artists, Crimson Arts writeaholic and outgoing Social Media Executive Hannah E. Gadway can be reached at hannah.gadway@thecrimson.com.