John Singer Sargant: Homer Saint-Gaudens


Figure 1.--Sargent painted Homer Saint-Gaudens with his mother in 1890. Sargent was a friend of the famous sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens who was one of the most prominent New York artists of the Gilded Age. The elder Saint-Gaudens did a bronze sculpture of Sargent's sister, so Sargent repaid this favor by painting a portrait of Saint-Gaudens's 11-year old son Homer, shown in the painting with his mother. Homer was not an easy subject to paint.

Sargent painted Homer Saint-Gaudens with his mother in 1890. Sargent was a friend of the famous sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), who was one of the most prominent New York artists of the Gilded Age. The elder Saint-Gaudens did a bronze sculpture of Sargent's sister, so Sargent repaid this favor by painting a portrait of Saint-Gaudens's 11-year old son Homer, shown in the painting with his mother.

The Guilded Age

No two artists more symoblized the Guilded Age in America than painter John Singrer Sargent and sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens. They had very different backgrounds, but were contempraries and friends.

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)

John Singer Sargent is known for his dazling and often daring portraits portraits of British and American high society at the turn of the century. Most of his best known works are glamorous portraits of eminent or socially prominent people of the period and helped to shape our view of the era. The elegance and often arrogance of the rich and famous were brilliantly displayed. Sargent was not a social critic. He simply portayed the rich and famous as he saw them. If the true portrait artist's job is to reveal the inner soul, then John Singer Sargent has certainly earned a prestigious place in the pantheon of great artists. Sargent was a friend of the famous sculptor, Augustus St. Gudens

Augustus St. Gudens (1848-1907)

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who was one of the most prominent New York artists of the Gilded Age. Augustus was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father was Bernard Saint-Gaudens, a French shoemaker. His mother was Mary McGuinness. We do not have details on the family's circumstances, but note that he was born during the Potato Famine. The family immigrated to New York City while Augustus was still an infant. It was thus in America that Augustus grew up. He completed his basic schooling when he was 13 years old. At this time he expresed a desire to pursue art as a vocation. The family did not have the funds to afford formal studies, but Augustus was apprenticed to a cameo cutter. Cameos were particularly popular in the Victorian era. Augustus learned to cut cameos on a lathe and after wirking during the day took evening classes on art at the Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. He completed his apprenticeship at age 19 and traveled to Paris. There he studied under Francois Jouffry at the renown Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Next he traveled to Rome (1870). He studied classical art and architecture in Rome for 5 years. He go his first commissions in Rome. He met an American art student, Augusta Homer, in Rome and married her after returming to America (1877). While St. Gaudens studied art, his early experiences with cameos appears to have influenced him to focus on sculpture. St. Gaudens after returning to America received his first important commission; a monument to Civil War Admiral David Glasgow Farragut (1876). It was a great success and his reputation was established. St. Gaudens did many notable works. He did the famed double eagle gold coin. He also did the Robert Shaw memorial to Black Civil War soldiers in Boston. The elder Saint-Gaudens did a bronze sculpture of Sargent's sister, so Sargent repaid this favor by painting a portrait of Saint-Gaudens's son Homer, shown in the painting with his mother.

Portrait

Sargent painted of Homer Saint-Gaudens with his mother in 1890. Sargent was a friend of the famous sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), who was one of the most prominent New York artists of the so-called Gilded Age. The elder Saint-Gaudens did a bronze sculpture of Sargent's sister, so Sargent repaid this favor by painting a portrait of Saint-Gaudens's eleven-year old son Homer, shown in the painting with his mother. The portrait hangs in the Carnegie Institute of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but has often been shown all over the world at various exhibitions.

Homer

Homer was not an idea subject. Sargent reprtedly had a bit of trouble painting the boy because he tended to fidget during the sittings and didn't want to remain still enough to be painted. Originally, Sargent did not intend to include Homer's mother in the portrait, but he changed his mind and had the boy's mother read to the lad during the sittings as a means of keeping his attention occupied. Note that Mrs. Saint-Gaudens is reading to her son from an open book. The boy was interested in naval battles, so his mother read him an account of the famous battle between the Constitution (Old Ironside) and the British frigate Guerriere from a book about the War of 1812. (As a result of this engagement, the British admiralty ordered frigate captains not to engage the American vessel individually. The title of the book was The Blue Jackets of 1812.

Clothing

The boy wears very formal clothing--the correct dress-up clothes for a boy of the Gilded Age in New York City. He wears a knee pants suit of black with contrasting colored buttons (are they metal?) down the front of his jacket. He sports an elegantly flourishing and very full white bow tie at his neck. Underneath the knee pants are long black stockings. On his feet he wears black patent leather pumps--the boyhood equivalent of adult male dancing pumps worn with white tie and tails. The suit is not quite a Fauntleroy suit, but it seems closely related.






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Created: February 1, 2004
Last updated: February 1, 2004