Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose; John Singer Sargent

Link is to a zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable, high-resolution file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Tate, Britain.

One of my favorite paintings by Sargent (which is to say, one of my favorite paintings by anyone), this is something of an elaborately constructed fantasy of a summer night, created by Sargent to capture the idea of the glowing lanterns at dusk, and the innocent childlike delight they can evoke.

What is not obvious is the large size of the work: 68 × 60 in (174 × 154 cm), and the way it envelops you when standing before it. The painting’s critical reception was mixed, but it was the first of Sargent’s works to be purchased by a museum.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose was painted during the time when Sargent had left Paris for England, and temporarily semi-retired from society portraiture following the unwelcome scandal that surrounded his famous Portrait of Madame X.

The account is that Sargent was inspired by a glimpse of chinese lanterns on the shore while boating on the Thames with American artist Edwin Austin Abbey.

Sargent set up to paint in the garden of painter F.D. Millet, at whose home he was staying, initially using Millet’s daughter as a model, but then replacing her with the daughters of illustrator Frederick Barnard, whose hair color he preferred for his composition.

Sargent worked on the piece for more than two months, his painting time limited by his desire to catch the real color and sensation of twilight.

The background is a made-up amalgam of elements, that Sargent gleaned from studying the children, lanterns and the garden over the course of several weeks, eventually even using lillies in vases when those in the garden faded. His preparatory work included drawings and painted sketches (image above, bottom).

There is a nice account on the Tate website, as well as an article on the Guardian, another on The Royal Academy of Arts, and a Wikipedia page devoted to the painting.

The title comes from a song popular at the time, The Wreath, a line and refrain from which mention Flora, Goddess of Spring, and goes… “A wreath around her head, around her head she wore, Carnation, lily, lily, rose”.

The children seem innocently enrapt in the lighting of the lanterns, with that complete absorption they can bring to simple tasks. I love the way the reflected light in their faces and hands carries forward the glow of the lanterns. Even the flowers and buds, set against the darker grass and foliage, take on much the same character as the lanterns, as if the flowers themselves were alight in the dusk.

It’s interesting to compare this piece by Luther Emerson Van Gorder, which was undoubtedly inspired by Sargent’s painting.

Portrait of Rosalba Peale, Rembrandt Peale

The link is to a zoomable version on the Google Art Project; there is a downloadable file on Wikipedia; the original is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which also has a zoomable version.

As his father, Charles Wilson Peale, had done for him, Rembrandt Peale tutored his daughters in painting and the sciences.

Here, his affectionate portrait of Rosalba in her early twenties shows an alert, pensive young woman sitting for her portrait with patient equanimity.

Rembrandt Peale also painted a later portrait of Rosalba with her sister, Eleanor.

The Balcony Room (Das Balkonzimmer), Adolph Menzel

Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project, downloadable file on Wikipedia, original is in the Staatliche Museum, Berlin.

In addition to Menzel’s wonderfully casual, painterly brushwork, this piece is noted for its interesting composition, in which a large portion of the image is “empty”.

To me, it’s a fascinating series of contrasts: the full and empty of the composition, as well as the dark-within-light values of of the chair in front of the open French door contrasted with the light-within-dark of the reflection in the mirror against the dark wall — repeated in the dark rug against the lighter areas of the floor, and the patches of bright sunlight against the darker area of the floor.

Even the two lamps aside the mirror are opposite value contrasts. Whether intentional or not, the two chairs facing opposite directions seem to reinforce the idea of opposition.