Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent, 1884

John Singer Sargent was an American expatriate artist, the leading portrait painter of the late 1800’s – early 1900’s. In addition to his approximately 900 oil paintings, he also painted more than 2,000 watercolours documenting his worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida.

As a budding portraitist and avid watercolourist, his work caught my eye early on in my own creative journey. 

Sargent showed me that formal and informal artworks can be equally enjoyable. The focus on a single style, medium and subject is often the interpretation of historians rather than from the artists, their journeys and their art.

John Singer Sargent’s 1884 Portrait of Madame X has to be one of the most famous profiles in the history of art. The profile is a great example of a pure contour line. Whether drawn or painted, the discipline of following a single contour is a key to effective image  making.

Madame X was one Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, an American expat and socialite, wife of Pierre Gautreau, a Parisian Banker. Sargent did not paint her portrait as a commission – he pursued her somewhat for the opportunity. While this work was in progress, Virginie was enthusiastic, but then quickly changed her tune when the painting first appeared at the Paris Salon, the preeminent exhibition of the day.

 Although we find no difficulty today, for those times it was a bit risqué, as a portrait anyway. People were shocked and scandalized. Sargent maintained however, that he had painted her “exactly as she was dressed, that nothing worse could be said of the canvas than had been said in print of her appearance”.

Interestingly, other portraits of  Mme. Gautreau have a quite different feel and nothing like the drama and impact of the Sargent masterpiece. Contemporary photographs of her certainly only show a glimmer of the painting. We cannot see what Sargent saw: the attitude, the facade, the forced show. Madame X is not a very sympathetic painting, perhaps a bit too clever and contrived, but you notice it. This painting could never have been conceived as anything other than a profile. A profile with attitude!

During the year following the scandal, Sargent departed for England. He hung Madame X first in his Paris studio, and later in his studio in London.  In 1916, Sargent sold the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, writing to its director “I suppose it is the best thing I have ever done.”

Portraits in Profile

There’s something about the profile that is set apart from other forms of portrait. The indirect gaze, away to the left or right; the ancient form, seen on coins, stamps, tapestries, fresco’s. Profiles are less about personality, more about status and a recording for posterity, value and respect. 

The Greeks even considered a profile as the origin of painting, stemming from the legend of the Maid of Corinth. Bidding farewell to her lover about to go to sea, she noticed his profile on the wall illuminated by  a candle and promptly traced it in charcoal as a memento.

 

Photographs can’t communicate a profile directly, it’s in there certainly  however – frustratingly, the camera ends up leaving it to you to resolve the profile.

A line needs to be selected, drawn. Drawn with care and careful observation.

I think this is a reason we’re so intrigued by the profile, it’s that pure expression of line work, not nearly so prevalent in other portraits. At it’s essence, a profile is pure contour.

When I lead drawing sessions, I invoke that careful, contiguous line drawing, “contour drawing” as a valuable exercise in observation and pacing. Drawing slowly and deliberately – this is the best way to resolve the profile. Even after some investigative sketching, it’s clear that a slow hand resolves the final image. Some artists like it and some less so, but it’s always useful. For me, its a stimulating contrast to some of my other methods, and I value the results.

What to do about glasses

I’ve found that there are two basic approaches that work  well, depending on the type of glasses and the impact on the look of the person. Start off by deciding whether the glasses are a “feature” of the portrait or an attribute of lesser importance. Some glasses define the look of the person (say Elton John), at other times they just become part of the face and are de-emphasized (say Steve Jobs).

Strong feature glasses I would block in early for two reasons, they are a big part of the portrait and the structure gives a good reference for the head shape. I take a little time to get the shape of the glasses themselves right because if they are off everything else will be too.

Conversely light glasses, that are less of a look of the person,  I ignore and paint what I see around them. Oftentimes this is enough that the glasses just form because of local distortions and the way I handle the brush. I love this approach: it’s indirect and I can focus on the portrait rather than the glasses.

With either approach I look for lens distortion (often around the side by the temples for example), reflections and changes in colour or clarity to give the effect of glass. Perhaps a light local glaze to settle the eyes back.

 

Notes on Composition

This lesson is focused on making the portrait your own through the choices you make in composition and colour. In some ways, portraits are a most challenging form of expression. Most people expect a likeness and then, only looking at the art as a tangential consequence. Throughout this lesson, I encourage you to continually try new approaches.

Portraits over the ages have been expressed with wildly differing compositions, from the traditional “head and shoulders” through to full figures, scenes and to radical oblique and cropped views. This of course is a matter of artistic choice and I encourage you to experiment!

Many of my portraits are relatively conventional in composition and expressionism is channeled toward paint application and colour. In this vein a conventional portrait might have these characteristics:

1. Conventionally, the sitter is looking into the picture space with the eyes proportionally more to the edge. Eyes are typically very much in the upper half of the picture space.
2. Limit space around the head so that it does not appear lost in the canvas. I’m a bit allergic to leaving much space above the head and invariably feel the portrait is “pushed down”.
3. Some asymmetry in the pose, particularly looking at tilt of the head and shoulder position, is important.
4. Three-quarter views are probably the most effective for traditional compositions. When I choose a straight-on pose, I invariably build in some asymmetry.

All of these ideas are there to be challenged – perhaps a small head at the bottom of the canvas, centered and viewed straight on might well work – that’s art!

Notes on Colour

Opportunities abound with background colour and motif. With portraits, perhaps more than any other subject, the background can have tremendous effect. It impacts the colour and value balance of course, and this is motivation enough, however I think that there’s more to it than that. Colour affects the overall feel and impression of the person, creates an ambiance for the viewer and projects something that I’d be challenged to describe. Some people talk about colour auras, and certainly colour is deeply seated in our psyche. That said, the choice perhaps emanates as much from the painter as the subject.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

1. Any colour can work…cool will distance itself from the actual portrait….. warm will “push” the portrait forward – literally banging on the back of the head;
2. Tonal is safer than chromatic… there’s a lot of colour in skin and a high chroma background can compete;
3. Simple is likewise more straightforward. A busy background, unless there’s a message in the motif…will distract the viewer;
4. Brushwork should not compete with the subject. That does not mean that it needs to be boring, just thought of as a “frame” for the subject;
5. Don’t forget the colour of the clothes too….it all has to fit together!

Again, these ideas are yardsticks to be challenged: perhaps try a high chroma, dramatic abstract design. Go with your intuition. As Chagall once commented: “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”

Exercises

1. Review a couple of portraits: yours or by others. Look at how the colour and composition fit together. What impression do you have? Do they  resonate? Why? What alternative approach might work as well or better?
2. Start a new portrait choosing a profile view (if you have not done one already). Decide now to make some different decisions from your last portrait and apply a couple of the ideas from this lesson: Unusual composition, different background/colour choice or thematic style!