“John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal” at The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Mario Naves | Too Much Art | 1st December 2019

Sargent’s oil portraits brought him fame and fortune, but they took work. By 1907, after more than a thousand of them, he had had enough. Charcoal drawings were a compromise – single sitting pieces that would mollify insistent clients. Quick these pieces may have been, but they are portraiture “at its finest … [that] discloses and elaborates upon the human spirit.” More images are here.