About Sargent
I visited Sargent and Paris exhibition at the Met, partly as a study. Most of the works I'had already seen at Sargent and Fashion at Tate Britain last summer in London, yet second time staring at these paintings, still in awe. There’s something about Sargent’s paintings that resists familiarity. What makes Sargent so fascinating? I guess it’s the paradox at the heart of his technique: the brushwork appears spontaneous, even careless, and yet it’s underpinned by exacting control. A single highlight tossed on the canvas seems almost accidental—until you realize how precisely it lands, and how exact the shape is. Behind it is repetition. Sargent often scraped away the entire painting and started over without hesitation. He was rarely satisfied with a first attempt. This relentless refinement reminds me of ballet: the illusion of effortlessness born from relentless discipline and repetition, in pursuit of perfection. Maybe that's why I am drawn to them - Sargent's pai...
