Postcard From Britain - Blenheim Palace

There is only one thing better than spending vacation time in an art museum, and that is visiting a great country house in England. Natural beauty, history, architectural delights, and fine art abound in those places and Blenheim Palace certainty has all of those features. To me, locations like this, not a tropical beach, are paradise. 

Some background first: from roughly the 13th through the 19th centuries, Britain was at odds with France and its allies. In the first years of the 1700s, the two countries were at war yet again. A decisive battle was fought that went in favor of the British — the battle of Blenheim, fought on German soil. Leading that battle was British General John Churchill. His service to his country won him the thanks of a grateful monarch in the form of a huge piece of land and the subsidies to have a grand house built on it. Today we know it as Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire — home to the Dukes of Marlborough, of which John Churchill was the first.

Blenheim was created as, and remains to this day, both an enormous war memorial and a private home.

When you enter the Blenheim Palace grounds from the streets of Woodstock you go through a triumphal arch gateway that was commissioned by John Churchill’s wife, first Duchess, Sarah Churchill. The gateway is a memorial to her husband and was built about 20 or so years after his all too early death. She really wanted us to remember him, so she commissioned memorials for future generations of visitors.

The inscription on the top (of the side facing the town of Woodstock) reads: “This gate was built the year after the death of the most illustrious John, Duke of Marlborough, by order of Sarah his most beloved wife, to whom he left the sole direction of the many things that remained unfinished of this fabric. The services of this great man to his country the pillar will tell you which the Duchess has erected for a lasting monument of his glory and her affection to him. 1723”.

The “pillar” Sarah referenced in the gate inscription is a large triumphal column she had built a good distance away from, but directly in line with the front entrance of Blenheim Palace itself. It resembles Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square. It too serves notice of the great service to England done by the first Duke. He stands on top, clad in classic Roman garb (all the rage in memorials to deceased leaders of the time). Here are a few of my shots of the pillar...

In walking back from the pillar to the palace there are many beautiful scenes. Below is my very raw shot (taken late the second day we spent there) on a walk back from the pillar. This became my reference for my oil painting of the great bridge with the palace off in the distance. The design and construction of the great bridge, and how it dovetailed with the rest of Blenheim park is a story for another post but, one can find many pleasing compositions to capture in this particular part of the grounds. I could almost not wait to get back home to paint it!

European politics and foreign relations being what they were, it was a big deal for the English to defeat the French. The British monarchy were great for pounding their chests in the wake of their victories, and Blenheim Palace is somewhat about that too. The image below shows an example - a sculptural detail on top of a double column in the main courtyard at Blenheim. A close look shows that the Lion, (symbol of England) is mauling and about to devour a cockerel bird (symbol of France at the time).

From this position, if you turn to your right, you see the main body of Blenheim Palace. It is similar to standing in front of the Vatican, in that the main structure sits in front of you, and you are hugged by two wings on each side.

Blenheim continues to be used as a backdrop for many films and television series. My favorites being an episode of Lewis, and of course the very last scene in the series finale of Endeavour (on PBS and Prime here in the states). A fantastic and fitting final scene to that great series!

When you go into the main entrance of Blenheim Palace you find yourself in a beautiful open space which establishes the awesome surroundings and splendor of the interior. Original and reproduced, captured French battle standards of the vanquished French armies are displayed in various rooms.

Aside from marveling at the fact that for centuries this entire place was a private residence, the great thing about seeing the interior of a place like Blenheim Palace is the ability to see a private collection of fine art. Pieces that you will almost never see in public museums. Art that has been in a family for many generations and remains in situ always seems extra special to me.

In a section off to the right of the main hall hangs an impressively huge oil painting of the first Duke, John Churchill and his family. Sitting on a table in front of the painting is a beautiful silver sculpture.

The sculpture is actually a dining table centerpiece that was used in many formal dinners hosted by the various Marlboroughs throughout the centuries. It depicts the moment a victorious General John Churchill sends what is known as his “Blenheim dispatch”. Basically after leading the British to victory in the battle of Blenheim, in Germany, he takes a moment to write to his wife Sarah, saying something like “… tell the Queen she has had a great victory at Blenheim.” Below are a couple details of the sculpture. This scene is immortalized throughout Blenheim Palace in paintings, sculptures, and tapestries.

The interior of Blenheim palace is as beautiful as the countryside surrounding it. One of my favorite rooms is the red drawing room.

In this opulent room hangs a portrait by one of my favorite artists of all time, John Singer Sargent. It depicts the dour 9th Duke of Marlborough and his not so loving bride, the multi-million dollar American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, along with their children (the heir and the spare).

John Singer Sargent was such a sublime talent that his gentrified sitters allowed him to depict them however he pleased. In this painting Sargent cunningly puts the 9th Duke a step down giving us the impression that if he were to step up, he would be the same height as the lovely Duchess.

In reality, she was much taller than he was. It was probably fairly radical in those days to depict the lady above the gentleman in a formal portrait like this, but Sargent was given the freedom to do it. He was a master of composition along with every other aspect painting.

By the way, many people think that the popular Downton Abbey series was based on the real life family at Highclere castle. While Highclere was the location used (and has been cashing in on that), the actual characters and story Julian Fellowes created were inspired by the late 19th century families at Blenheim, especially Consuelo Vanderbilt. Anyway, the red drawing room is just one of many amazing rooms holding treasures to marvel at while on a visit to Blenheim. I’ll share other locations in a future post.

Historic sites like Blenheim are just one reason I love to visit the U.K. If you geek out on British history and enjoy exploring great British houses as much as I do, maybe check out Julie Montagu’s YouTube channel “American Viscountess”. I recently saw on her Instagram that she will be doing an episode on Blenheim Palace very soon. Cheers!

Sargent Portraits in Charcoal

One art exhibit I was really looking forward to visiting this year was the exhibit of portraits in charcoal by John Singer Sargent at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Covid 19 ruined that for me, but I recently purchased the exhibition catalogue. While it is no substitute for seeing the originals, the book is still great to have. Thankfully the beautiful catalogue totally does justice to Sargent's work.

Sargent's highly finished charcoal drawings and quick sketches are just as sumptuous as his oil paintings, which I have seen in person many times. I can only imagine what it must be like to be the owner of one of these original drawings, having it handed down to you from earlier family generations.

Like many exhibition catalogues the print quality is exceptional. Book reproductions of oil paintings can sometimes lose the impact of the originals, as far as brush work details and textures go. You do not really have that problem with reproductions of charcoal drawings, so that makes missing the actual exhibit a bit less painful. 

I own a Dover publication of John Singer Sargent drawings, and just purchased a book of his drawings from another publisher as well, and neither are reproduced in full color - which you would think would not matter since the originals are done with charcoal - but it does matter.

The exhibition catalogue is printed in full color and the detail is superior. Also you get to see the varied shades of paper Sargent used and how that effects the tones and the overall look of each piece. Plus the catalogue shows details of select images, probably enlarged to the same size as his originals (he did most within an 18x24 inch area) so those blown up details are always interesting.Image

Finally, aside from the fantastic images, it was fun to read about each of Sargent's sitters and their families reactions to the finished work. Hard to believe, but some of them were not pleased with the results! It was also interesting to read that Sargent used pieces of bread to lift out areas of tone to create highlights. I really have to try that one.

Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn was a fantastically talented Swedish painter who lived during the same period of history (late 1800s to early 1900s) as one of my favorite oil painters, John Singer Sargent. Why Zorn is not as much of a household name today as Sargent is, I do not know. Recently I read that during their lifetimes, Zorn was the more well known of the two.

 Paintings by Zorn (left) and Sargent (right)

The first I heard about Zorn was in one of the many oil painting technique books I own. Specifically one book by Kevin McPherson which mentions, and then shows, the very useful limited palette of Zorn, along side some of his work.

Perhaps he will become more widely appreciated starting this year since there is an exhibit of Anders Zorn paintings at the National Academy Museum at 1083 Fifth Avenue in New York city.

"The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" - Final Comments

One final post today concerning John Singer Sargent’s masterpiece "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit".

"The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" 1882, by John Singer Sargent

Depending on what blurbs you read about this painting, you might be led to think that the Boit family was disfunctional and the daughters were crazy. What family anymore isn’t just a little of both anyway?

Julia Boit 

Mary Louisa Boit

The Boits were a very wealthy family who lived a privileged life on both sides of the Atlantic. In their time most people of their social stature were expected to fit into their propper “place” in society. Women were expected to marry a guy on par with their own social and financial level, then procreate and care for their family, all the while doing what other women did in those days.

But the Boit women never married (to the chagrin of their mother) and, as strange as it may have seemed at the time, never were at all interested in landing a husband. Each lived an atypical, spinster life which was altered forever when the first world war broke out. Each became, what undoubtedly extended family members called, “old maids”.

Jane Boit

Jane did have a mental problem as well. Sadly her shrieking fits made life tough for all involved, and she was sent to live away from the family from time-to-time. All the girls lived off the family inheritance, each was musically inclined to an extent, and unfortunately none ever commented in-depth as an adult about the time when, as young girls, they had their portraits painted by one of the greatest painters in history.

Florence Boit

To me all of this is a bit interesting in itself, but it really seems to ad to the mystique of Sargent’s painting - a masterpiece which now becomes a snapshot of these four innocent lives from a very different era than our own, but perhaps a jaded snapshot, knowing what little we do, and do not know, of their lives.

If you love this painting, then read the book I mentioned in the past couple posts - "Sargent's Daughters, the biography of a painting" by Erica Hirshler.

You may also enjoy hearing the author herself talk about Sargent’s work by clicking here.

JoeWinklerArt.com

"The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" - Observations Continued

Much has been written about why Sargent put his sitters in these particular positions, and to me that question has been a bit over analyzed. As any portrait painter would tell you, it’s tough to get a sitter to hold a position for a long time without getting fidgety. Even more so with children. Each child’s posing session was probably done separately, and one would assume that Sargent did several preparatory oil sketches of various poses, yet no book I’ve ever read mentions or shows the existence of any such sketches.

John Singer Sargent,  "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit," oil

To me the best and most straight-forward explanation for the seeming randomness of the girls positions comes from MFA curator Erica Hirshler. In her book "Sargent's Daughters, the biography of a painting", she explains that Edward Boit being an artist himself, and understanding the amazing talent that Sargent was, gave him a tremendous amount of artistic freedom to do whatever he liked with his subjects and their surroundings.

Another interesting point I’ve read concerning "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" is the statement Sargent seems to be making about women coming of age. He presents us with various stages of life from the innocence of youth represented by the doll, and the youngest girl holding it - both of which are in full light - to the more mysterious, inwardness, and awkwardness of young adulthood, represented by the oldest daughters, one of whom is not even facing us from the shadows.

None of these points are 100% certain mind you, and I like that fact because it only ads to the mystique of the piece. One thing is for certain, few other painters in the history of art have had the ability to observe and use so many colors to depict the color white - something Sargent gave himself the opportunity to do in this and so many other paintings (as shown below).

John Singer Sargent, “An Artist in his Studio,” oil

JoeWinklerArt.com

"The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" - Observations

Continuing from the previous post, here are a few thoughts on why this oil painting by John Singer Sargent seems so captivating and even haunting.

"The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" by John Singer Sargent

When he completed this oil painting Sargent titled it "Portraits of Children" probably to put on display his awesome portrait painting skills, in order to gain more commissions. It certainly is a portrait of children, but a conventional portrait it is not. A conventional portrait depicts the sitter or sitters as the primary subject, with the background or "environment" subordinate to the subjects.

Sargent hasn't created a picture of children, he has created an environment with children in it. Big difference. And I believe, the first reason that this painting is so captivating.

close up

The space behind the elder daughters that is framed by those two vases along with the hints of light reflection in the room beyond, creates a sense of mystery that makes our eyes wander back there, holding our attention all that much longer.

Even more interesting than that alluring space however, is the different ways in which Sargent has depicted each girl. I was always amazed by how random the poses seem and yet how they work together to draw the viewer into the picture plane. My eye goes from the youngest in front, to the older two in back, who, like the space they pose in front of, is rendered very loosely yet convincingly. But that looseness of the older two contrasts nicely with the more exacting rendition (and seemingly more formal poses) of the younger two in front, and just ads to the mystery of the overall piece.

JoeWinklerArt.com

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit - "Sargent's Daughters" Book

John Singer Sargent is one of my all time favorite painters. There are too many of his paintings I enjoy studying to call any one of them my "favorite". However the one painting of his that has intrigued me, (and millions of other people) more than any other is "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit".

"The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit", 1882, oil on canvas,

just over 87x87 inches, by John Singer Sargent

How could a painting that we see today as a masterpiece, have once been criticized as "four corners and a void"? What is it about Sargent's depiction of these four Victorian-era children that seems so haunting to us today?

If you've looked at this painting for any length of time, and your a fan of Sargent, I suggest you pick up the book "Sargent's Daughters, the biography of a painting" by Erica Hirshler who is a curator for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - the museum where the painting lives.

The book gives about as much detail as can be given about the painting itself, and covers a wide range of additional information too. Everything from biographical information on Sargent and his relationship with the Boits, to the critics reaction to the piece, along with brief bios of the girls themselves.

I really enjoyed reading about the entire era of the late 1800s to early 1900s and how people's perception of art, along with their tastes and lifestyles, evolve over time. The surge in appreciation for John Singer Sargent’s work has been going on since the mid 1970s. The book recounts and quotes some of the critical psychoanalysis of this particular painting that has happened since that time and it’s real interesting and sometimes laughable to read.

Self portrait, oil on canvas- John Singer Sargent

Unfortunately the questions that can never be answered by this book or any other, are the intangible ones such as, ‘why was this painting created in the first place?’, and ‘Why did Sargent choose such an unconventional composition?’ and ‘Does the fact that the subjects are so unrelated have an inner meaning?’.

Over the next post or so I’ll babble on about this painting, and comment on some of those intangibles among other things.

JoeWinklerArt.com

Portrait Gallery Highlights - Kinstler

J.C. Leyendecker is my favorite commercial illustrator of all time. John Singer Sargent is my favorite fine art oil painter ever. Both of them belong to history now, even though their work lives on as a testament to their greatness.

Of the many living masters of the present day whose work I love to look at is the acclaimed portrait artist Everett Raymond Kinstler.

  One of many portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler in the National Portrait Gallery.

Kinstler is the John Singer Sargent of today's world. He started out in illustration, but for the past 40  years or so, has been painting outstanding portraits of everyone from American Presidents, to film icons, to authors, to corporate CEOs.

The National Portrait Gallery in Washington has a good many of his portraits, some of which I shot while there, and wanted to show you.

                    One of Everett Raymond Kinstler's paintings of Ronald Reagan.

                             Kinstler's painting of Katharine Hepburn.

Most of his paintings are more "sketchy" than John Singer Sargent's which I don't mind at all. I'm in awe of both artists.

                             Detail of Kinstler's painting of Katharine Hepburn.

To me this is further proof of a lesson I learned a few years ago - value is more important than color, Kinstler, like Sargent and every other great painter, nails the values of each nuance of every plane of the subject. This face could be painted in all blues and still look fantastic because the values are so perfect.

JoeWinklerArt.com

John Singer Sargent Painting at National Portrait Gallery in Washington

Of all the paintings I saw in the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, John Singer Sargent's portrait of the Victorian beauty, Elizabeth Winthrop Chandler, was my favorite.

                    "Elizabeth Winthrop Chandler", by John Singer Sargent, 1893

The painting measures roughly 49x40 inches, and is situated in such a way that as you walk through the doorway of the room it resides in, it is the first piece to grab your attention - and grab mine it did.

I’ve seen this work many times in books, but seeing this, in person really gave me a new appreciation for the high degree of "finish" Sargent's work has. The entire paint surface, from the supple skin of her face to the loosely painted areas of the background, are so confidently executed it's amazing. The paint is luscious and buttery in all the right spots, while other areas are thinly painted leaving bits of the canvas ground color showing through.

Like every great traditional painter, Sargent lays in the middle and dark values first, before moving on to the lighter values. Sargent, draws very confidently with the brush, probably using that umber color on the left side of her neck. That area seems to me, to be left untouched right through finish. Why? Because Sargent is such a master of values that no more reworking of the darks is needed. They dovetail beautifully with the rest of the values and colors of the painting from beginning to end.

Edges are hugely important in paintings. They can draw the viewers eye to an area by being more sharp, or they can make areas less noticeable by being more blurred or fuzzy. I love looking at edges in Sargent’s paintings. The sharpest edge in this painting is the right side of her lovely face.

Look at the soft edges of her eyes (below). They are soft-edged but that’s fine because in most portraits a viewer’s eyes will lock right in on the sitters eyes. In the few portraits I’ve ever done, the eyes were always too hard-edged.

Just look at the loose way her hands (along with the rest of the painting) is executed, in comparison to the face. While viewing the entire work and focusing in on her beautiful eyes, the viewers eyes reads those hands as if they were painted as detailed as the face, yet when we isolate  them, we can see that Sargent was such a virtuoso that he can render the hands and jewels with quick but delicate strokes of both thick and thin paint and they look just right.

This is why I can easily spend up to 40 minutes or more at a museum in front of a painting I love. First I like to take in the whole work and consider the placement of elements compositionally, while thinking about what part of the piece my eye was drawn to first and why it was drawn there. Next I look close and study every detail of the paint surface that I’m drawn to, edges, colors and all. Then I’ll step back again. Finally I’ll shake my head and slowly walk away.

JoeWinklerArt.com

More John Singer Sargent at the National Gallery of Art

Here is another great oil painting by John  Singer Sargent that hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

                   John Singer Sargent, “Repose”

This was his niece, Rose-Marie Ormond. This is a less of a “finished” painting than the one in the previous post, and it is smaller (only 25 inches without the frame). However it is no less amazing to study. Just look at the wonderful brushwork of that gown!

Loosely executed, but confidently calculated!

The blue light bouncing off certain areas just makes it sing doesn’t it? The dominant color in this piece is on the blue/cool side of the color wheel. The color that sets off the blue areas are the warm yellow/gold notes of the huge gilded frame and Victorian side table next to her. As far as color goes, using a dominant color overall, with select areas of the color that is opposite it on the color wheel is a tried and true method for creating a successful composition.

Oh you just Love Sargent!

JoeWinklerArt.com

John Singer Sargent at the National Gallery of Art

There are many great, paintings by American artists in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Eakins,  Homer, Chase, and Whistler are all in the NGA's collection.

                                    Winslow Homer “Home, Sweet Home”

My favorite American painter – indeed my favorite painter of all time – is in fact the least "American" of all the American artists in the National Galleries' collection. He is John Singer Sargent.

                                     John Singer Sargent later in life.

He lived from 1856 to 1925 and was born in Europe to parents who had roots near Philadelphia but had lived in Europe for years before his birth. Sargent was gifted from childhood and living in the seat of cultural Europe and having a family with the means to remain there only helped his talent grow. He was a most masterful artist, and a virtuoso at manipulating oil paint to convey any subject he chose.

                    John Singer Sargent “Mrs. Adrian Iselin” 71 1/2 x 48 1/8 x 4 in.

Every time I'm at the National Gallery and I see the painting above, I end up studying those hands. Particularly her right one, with the pinky extended. Just look at a close-up of that brushwork!

As with all masters of any discipline, he makes it look easy. Trust me, it's not! Look at those small strokes that are mere touches of the brush - They render form so convincingly and yet are so casually done! Of course the colors and values are spot on as well, which is a huge part (and only one part mind you) of the challenge of doing this type of oil painting.

Among all of Sargent’s awesome artistic talents was his ability to pose his subjects just so, and positioning a subjects hands is a huge part of that challenge.

Most of these types of portraits are huge because they were meant to hang in the huge victorian mansions of the subjects. Look at the angle I had to take in order to get as close as I could to the face.

Sargent has been dismissed by some modern day critics as being a mere "high society" portrait painter. To me his painting skills are above and beyond any painter of any era. Any classically-trained oil painter would love to have his skills and gain the notoriety he achieved during his lifetime because of those skills. He could paint any subject under the sun, and paint it beautifully. No surprise then, (and not a knock against him in my book) that he chose to paint subjects that could pay large sums of money for his work.

JoeWinklerArt.com