Most people think of John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) as an American who painted exquisite, larger than life "Edwardian-era" portraits (famous examples - right).

But he was far more. He lived most of his life in Europe. His status as an American expatriate was more an accident of birth. He was born in Florence, studied in Paris, and lived in London. He did come to America to paint portraits and to exhibit and considered Boston as his American home.

John's American parents soon moved from Florence to London. His mother exposed him to museums and churches throughout Europe feeling such experiences would serve as a core of his education. Sargent studied mostly in Paris. On his first attempt, he passed the rigorous exam required by the École des Beaux-Arts. His early interest was landscape painting, not portraiture. But he thought the best way to gain entry into the Paris Salon and promote a successful art career was to do portraits for well-heeled clients. As a portraitist, he gained both his fame and fortune.

Sargent never married. He is believed to have had numerous relationships with men, including Oscar Wilde who was his London neighbor for several years. Of course, society's attitudes toward homosexuality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were problematic for a prominent public person to navigate. As a consequence, Sargent seemed a very private person to many. He was comfortable painting Jews and Gypsies when others were not. He was kind, both personally and artistically to all kinds of minorities. He seemed to understand and share their "otherness."

Artistically, Sargent lived at a time when the art world was focused in turn on Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism while he remained true to his own version of Realism. He was a friend of Claude Monet who was 16 years older. Sargent visited Monet in Giverny and later met him in England. During that visit, he created a painting of Monet painting near a wood. Sargent indeed had his critics. Pissarro once said of Sargent, "He is not an enthusiast but rather an adroit performer."

By the time of his death in 1925 at the age of 69, he was considered anachronistic, a relic of the Gilded Age. He died in London at his home in Chelsea. He is buried in Woking, Surrey, England about 20 miles outside London.

John Singer Sargent loved Spain. Over three decades, he visited Spain again and again, often remaining for months. He was fascinated with the country, especially the Spain far off the well trodden tourist path.

This exhibition has seven facets, each showing how John Singer Sargent was taken with Spain.

In 1879, John Singer Sargent traveled to Spain to study the Spanish painters El Greco, Diego Velázquez and Francisco Goya. Although the work of these artists was over two centuries old, Sargent saw modern qualities in their work and absorbed their inspiration. His teacher in Paris, Carolus-Duran, advised young Sargent, "Velázquez, Velázquez, Velázquez, ceaselessly study Velázquez." Singer was drawn to Velázquez for his realism and command of tonal values.

In Madrid, Sargent registered many times as a copyist at the Museo del Prado where he painted in the galleries looking up at works by El Greco, and Velázquez. He also studied a fresco by Goya in a chapel just outside the city center of Madrid.

One of the paintings Sargent admired was The Needlewoman (c1640-50) by Diego Velázquez. Singer admired Velázquez's fluid brushwork and careful use of soft light and deep shadow, qualities evident in this unfinished portrayal of a young woman intent on her handiwork. Like Sargent, Velázquez was an innovative painter of portraits. In Velázquez's day, he was the court painter of Philip IV in Madrid.

At the age of 12, young John Singer Sargent visited Spain with his parents. At that early age, he was captivated by Spanish architecture. He sketched part of the Alhambra palace in Granada. At the age of 23, he returned to Spain's southern region of Andalusia and the hilltop city of Toledo. He studied its richly decorated buildings and archaeological objects of the Muslim Nasrid dynasty (1230-1492).

Alhambra Patio de lost Arrayanas is Sargent's earliest oil of Alhambra, a Muslim palace built by the Nasrid dynasty which ended in 1492. He focused on the center of the facade, with its dark receding passageway. The outside areas are blurred in the bright sunlight and heat of the Mediterranean sun.

Santa Maria La Blanca, Toledo is a scene from a medieval synagogue in Toledo, built in a Christian Kingdom, designed by Muslim architects for a Jewish house of worship, a relatively tolerent diversity not to be found in the rest of Europe at the time.

Sargent often enjoyed gardens of summer palaces. A Marble Fountain at Aranjuez is just south of Madrid. Sargent entered the following notation in his travel diary, "The place is perfectly charming, grand gardens with cavernous avenues and fountains and statues, long neglected - good natured friendly people - lunch in the open air under arbors of roses."

Throughout his numerous visits to Spain, he held a fascination with Spanish design and ornamentation. The formal gardens provided subjects for many of his watercolors, be they in churchyards or royal palaces. Not only did he paint these fountains and sculptures, he would buy photographs of them and even bought his own portable camera, which became a life-long hobby.

When it comes to John Singer Sargent's paintings of Spain's land and its people, I am reminded of the travel paintings of Winslow Homer and his paintings of the Caribbean. Both artists were much more than tourists. Sargent painted working farmers and farm animals which people relied upon for their livelihood. He included the Roma citizens, a minority group on the margin of Spanish society. They were a group of "gypsies" who lived in the Sacromonte neighborhood who made their homes in whitewashed caves built into the steep hillside. "Gypsies" is a negative term, rooted in the mistaken belief that "gypsies" originated from Egypt. Like Winslow Homer, Sargent believed that the stories of people on the margins were worth telling and painting.

This painting is of Sargent's painting friend, Welsh-born Albert de Belleroche. Here, Albert sits for a portrait wearing a Spanish cloak and hat collected by Singer during his 1879 trip to Spain.

The man in the other portrait was Sargent's hired guide in Grenada. He was nicknamed "Chorrojumo" (translated as stream of smoke). He was known for posing for painters and tourists. He told colorful stories as he escorted tourists around Alhambra. Here he is wearing Andalusian attire, an embellished jacket, pants, sash and "catite" hat.

These two watercolors show soldiers at the Royal Hospital in Santiago de Compostela, a city in northwest Spain. The city is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage destination, thought to be the burial site of Saint James the Apostle.

During his 1903 visit, Sargent observed these men convalescing or working in the sunlit courtyard. Their red pants, hats and espandrilles identify them as infantry from the Garrison of Galicia.

Why is Sargent interested in painting patients in hospitals? I feel he was motivated, like Winslow Homer, in telling visual stories. It wasn't Sargent's way of making a living. His major contribution was his society portraits. But painting landscapes and visiting foreign lands and painting common people, that's what he enjoyed.

In Courtyard, Casa del Chaps, Sargent documents a once architecturally significant residence which has fallen into a state of disrepair. The balcony above gives us a clue that this space was once used for more lofty purposes. But as the building fell into disrepair, this airy enclosure is now used for a pair of pack mules, some tools and baskets.

This painting shows John Singer Sargent's love of painting working animals. Imagine, the preeminent society portrait painter of his time painting a lowly donkey in its stable.

Bear in mind that Singer did not catch a flight to Madrid, nor did he tour the countryside in a limo. Travel took time and was not easy nor reliable. In Driving in Spain, we see what Sargent would have seen during much of his travels. The covering of their wagon is visible in the upper left corner.

Hospitals are not tourist destinations, but Sargent was drawn to paint Renaissance buildings in the context of their current state. Hospital at Granada shows a sunlit porch outside the Hospital of Saint John of God in Granada located in a 16th century building, with graceful arches and paintings. An art critic said of this painting that it possesses "deep notes of joy and despair."

In 1908, John Singer Sargent made two trips to to the island of Majorca, a brief trip during the summer and an extended return visit in the Fall. On the second trip, Sargent was accompanied by his frequent travel companions, his sister Emily and their friend, Eliza Wedgwood. Eliza was a member of the Wedgwood china, porcelain and luxury accessories company. Emily Sargent, like her brother, was a serious painter in her own right, known mostly for he watercolor landscapes.

Majorca's many sights were stunning. It's mountainous northern coast, ports, fishing villages, and fertile countryside excited Sargent artistically. During his first trip, Sargent remained pretty much in the capitol city of Palma. In the fall, Sargent and his travel companions rented a villa in Valldemossa in the Tramuntana mountains and ventured into the Majorcan countryside.

John Singer Sargent, Mosquito Nets, 1908, oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI

Emily Sargent and Eliza Wedgwood are pictured in Mosquito Nets enjoying a leisurely moment at their villa in the mountain village of Valldemosa. All three of this traveling group were avid readers. Eliza wrote, "We all took books with us, but John's library was always the biggest." For Sargent and his traveling companions, Majorca was a near paradise. It had its many plusses, but on the minus side, it had mosquitos. Here, Emily had devised their mosquito netting so she and Eliza could enjoy reading, except for the buzzing.

Francisco Bernareggi was an Argentinian living in Majorca. He was a painter who shared Sargent's passion for painting the island's landscape. The pair painted together and here, Francisco sat for a portrait.

Sargent held a life-long interest in ships and shipping. The two paintings above, White Ships and A Falucho, play with shimmering sunlight dancing off the water. Bright white rippled reflections capture and magnify the hulls while ships masts and rigging cast a crisscross of shadows.

This view of Majorca's wild northern coast was near the house he rented in the fall of 1908. The villa was on an estate owned by Austrian Archduke Ludwig Salvator. The archduke hosted many gatherings with artists and writers. His avocation was as a naturalist, and he built mountain paths and viewing platforms to encourage enjoyment of the island's coastline.

When Sargent was in Majorca in 1908, he was involved in a mural project at the Boston Public Library. Working in oil, this fig tree allowed Sargent an opportunity to study intertwining leaves and varying color combinations. This painting was a study in the use of yellows and greens when depicting foliage.

Perhaps a habit he learned in childhood as his mother took him to view the museums and churches of Europe, Sargent was always drawn to the mysticism of religion, especially the type practiced by Spanish Catholics. In a Church at Granada, Sargent shows Saint Bruno of Cologne, part of the altar of the Renaissance church of San Jeronimo in Granada, reaching heavenward.

Saint with Dragon is a relief of Saint Margaret of Antioch, another part of the altar of San Jeronimo in Granada. According to tradition, Margaret was swallowed by the Dragon (Satan), escaping by forcing the Dragon to disgorge her.

Saint Teresa of Ávila may be of interest to people in Bodega Bay. One of our local sightseeing highlights is the picturesque Catholic church in the inland town of Bodega named St. Teresa of Ávila. The church was photographed by Ansel Adams and just about anyone who passes by with a camera. A glimpse of the church is visible in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. It is located just behind the schoolhouse.

To the left is Sargent's painting of a statue of Saint Teresa of Ávila by sculptor Gregario Fernandez which now sits in a niche in a convent in the historical quarter of the town of Ávila. On October 15 of each year, the statue is marched through the historical quarter of the town.

St. Teresa was a Spanish Carmelite nun and is remembered for being a Spanish mystic and religious reformer. Living in the mid 16th century, she was a leader of the counter-reformation. She stressed and taught the importance of meditation and prayer.

Sargent was captivated by Spain's dance and music. More than a decade after his 1879 visit, he painted famed Spanish dancer Carmen Dauset Moreno in New York. Moreno was performing under the name of La Carmencita. She toured mostly in Europe, being featured at the Palace Theatre, London, in February 1895 and periodically at the Théâtre des Nouveautés in Paris. She drew large audiencces who loved her bold performances and her revealing costumes scandalously exposing her lower legs.

During his 1879 trip, Sargent experimented in painting Spanish dancers performing in the open air at night.

It is uncertain whether Sargent painted these paintings of a Roma dancer while in Spain or later in his London studio. The dashed brushstrokes of the two fringed shawls have a spontaneous quality, and the world "olé" appears in the background of the golden shawl painting suggesting the immediacy of the performance.

Sargent spent a great deal of time with the Spanish Roma people during his extended visit to Andalusia. The Roma people made up a significant minority within Spain's diverse population.

The Spanish Romas' roots were in northern India from where they migrated to Europe about a thousand years ago. They arrived in Spain around the 15th century and have since made significant contributions to Spanish culture. But like minorities elsewhere, they have been oppressed, marginalized and subjected to painful stereotypes within Spain and beyond.

Sargent's treatment of the Roma people was much kinder than depictions by other artists. His willingness to paint dignified images of the Roma people and their culture gives us a window into the Roma people, and also a window into the heart and soul of John Singer Sargent. Throughout his career, he was, demonstrably and consistently sympathetic to "the other."

Cristiana Grigore, a Roma woman and scholar, said of Spanish Roma Woman "There is something in her expression -- not quite happy or sad, perhaps lost in a thought, burdened or just tired -- that I have seen in other Roma women."

She goes on, "These complex facial expressions are hard to comprehend and suggest so many untold stories. ... We, the Roma women, have stood in the shadows for too long. Its time for our beauty, talents, and stories to be acknowledged with dignity and agency."

On his final trip to Spain in 1912, Sargent shows the everyday activities of Granada's working classes. In Spanish Roma Dwelling, Sargent uses a brilliant palette to show details of Roma life, including one of their animals in front of their Sacromonte cave home.

Sargent and Spain is at the Legion of Honor through May 14. If you think you know John Singer Sargent from having seen his portraits, please think again. This exhibit allows you to see what was important to him. In Spain, he was left to paint what he wanted to paint, what he thought was worthy of his time and interpretation. Its a museum visit well worth your while.

Bentonville, AR
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art

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