The Easel

3rd December 2019

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

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.

26th November 2019

Annie Leibovitz: “I’m just a photographer”

Leibovitz is one of the eminent photographers of our age. How does she describe her own work? Her first work was effectively street photography, followed by portrait photography, “rock-and-roll”, then celebrity portraits. Nowadays? “I have a point of view … I think of myself as a conceptual artist using photography.” Reflections on her career’s work? “It’s hard to put what you see into a rectangle.” Her survey show is reviewed here.