Old Masters Academy

Posts Tagged "John Singer Sargent"

Was John Singer Sargent a HOMOSEXUAL?

Was John Singer Sargent a homosexual? It has been suggested by art historian Trevor J. Fairbrother that the gentle eroticism of Sargent’s male nudes is evidence of his homosexual tendencies. This beautiful portrait of the 28 year old dandy W. Graham Robertson from 1894 has been much discussed as an example of an homoerotic aesthetic in Sargent’s portraits of elegant young gentlemen. Sargent was much sought after as a portrait painter among the elite of society because he made men look dashing and women look beautiful. The sensual beauty of his portraits of both men and women caused some comment. Some even called his portraits indecent. Because of it’s depiction of an apparently sexually liberated woman in a low cut…

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Madame X by John Singer Sargent

When Madame X was shown at the Salon of 1884 it became instantly a salacious painting and a scandal in French society as a result of its sexual suggestiveness of her pose and the pail pasty color of her skin. The “X” ofMadame X was actually Madame Gautreau (1859-1915) who’s  reputation was apparently destroyed and John left France shortly to never truly regain his former standing as the darling of Paris. The size of the painting is enormous, measuring 82 inches  by 43 inches or nearly seven feet tall (2 meters) — and with the underlying sensuality of the painting, in the time that it was done (if it isn’t still to some degree today),  almost threatening to the viewer. When I…

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