The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is currently hosting a groundbreaking exhibition titled 'John Singer Sargent: Dazzling Paris,' which opened in September and runs through January 11. This marks the first monographic show of the American expatriate painter by any French museum, despite Sargent having lived and worked in Paris for approximately a decade. The curators faced a significant challenge in gathering works specifically linked to his time in the city from 1874 to 1884, as Parisian subjects surprisingly appear infrequently in his extensive portfolio. The exhibition follows two recent major shows: 'Sargent and Fashion' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tate Britain, and 'Sargent and Paris' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose curator Stephanie Herdrich co-organized this Paris presentation. While Sargent remains relatively obscure in France compared to his reputation in America and Britain, this exhibition aims to establish his significance in the country he once called home.
The show opens with two smaller chambers before revealing Sargent's signature large-scale society portraits. The first room serves as a travelogue, featuring en plein air sketches from his extensive journeys across France, Italy, Spain, and Morocco, including works like 'Atlantic Sunset' (1876-78) and a portrait of his friend Ramón Subercaseaux in a Gondola (1880). The curators have made a concerted effort to connect these works to Paris by noting they were brought back to his studio and used as aids for ambitious compositions shown at the Salon. The second chamber contains rare surviving pieces from his earliest Paris days in 1874, created during his apprenticeship in French painter Carolus-Duran's studio, providing crucial insight into his artistic development during his formative years.
The exhibition brilliantly demonstrates Sargent's extraordinary technical versatility through contrasting works displayed side by side. His academic drawings from the Accademia di Belli Arti in Florence, such as the 1873-74 study of the Dancing Fawn antique statue, showcase masterful grisaille technique with effortless foreshadowing and tonal precision. Similarly, his 1877 'Drawing of Ornaments' renders marble with such accuracy it appears almost computer-generated to contemporary viewers. Yet immediately adjacent hangs 'A Male Model Standing before a Stove' (1875-80), an oil study employing rough, impasto brushwork that anticipates kitchen-sink realism. This juxtaposition reveals how Sargent built three-dimensionality through faceted layers rather than uniform surfaces, manipulating underlying ground colors to achieve his effects.
The curators emphasize Sargent's connection to Old Masters he studied at the Museo del Prado and in the Netherlands, including his 1879 copy of Velázquez's 'The Jester Calabacillas' and 1880 copy of a figure from Frans Hals's civic guard painting. These three artists share an academic ability to capture life with minimal, economical brushwork that creates complete visual impressions from seemingly nothing, with bare canvas often showing through. This technique reaches full expression in Sargent's 'Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d'Hiver' (1879-80), where the brushstrokes feel like parts of a mobile that have drifted into perfect position, establishing his painterly greatness alongside Velázquez and Hals.
The exhibition's centerpiece is Sargent's infamous 1883-84 portrait of Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, known as 'Madame X,' on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This marks its first showing in Paris since the moral scandal it caused at the 1884 Salon, likely precipitating Sargent's move to London two years later. The stark composition, featuring the socialite in profile with pale skin against a daring black gown, was considered too provocative for Parisian society. Its simplicity and tonal contrast align more closely with fellow American James McNeill Whistler's work than Sargent's typical style. An unfinished copy from the Tate accompanies the masterpiece, providing rare insight into Sargent's working process.
Beyond Madame X, the exhibition offers numerous society portraits that demonstrate Sargent's unparalleled ability to capture Belle Époque opulence with dazzling technical skill. While the curators struggle to definitively align Sargent with Paris thematically, the exhibition succeeds in showcasing his universal appeal across generations and geographies. The title 'Dazzling Paris' may refer less to how Sargent dazzled the city during his lifetime and more to the curators' intent to dazzle contemporary Parisian audiences with his brilliance. The exhibition ultimately argues that Sargent's relevance transcends geographic boundaries, making him a truly international master whose technical prowess deserves recognition in the city where he honed his craft.
