More than a pretty face

John Singer Sargent shot to fame for his Society portraits, but he was as adept in other genres and excelled at watercolor, often capturing 'off-duty' records of his many trips and travelling companions

- Peyton Skipwith

JOHN SINGER SARGENT was born in Florence, the son of American parents. His father, Fitzwilliam, was by that stage a non-practising medic and his mother, Mary, manipulated her health to keep the family on the move, seeking sun in the winter and the cool of the mountains in the summer. John was one of six children, three of whom died young, leaving him with two sisters, Emily and Violet. The family drifted, travelling, as they said, for health, not pleasure, renting accommodation according to the season in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France, but favouring Nice for the winter. As a result of this peripatetic life, the children had little formal education, but were fluent in French, German and Italian, as well as English.

In May 1874, Sargent enrolled as a student in the Paris studio of Carolus-Duran, a latter-day disciple of Velázquez. He exhibited his portrait at the Paris Salon in 1882, together with El Jaleo, which, with another scene of Spanish dancers, had been inspired by an 1879 visit to Spain.

Sargent was 20 when he first visited America with his parents to see the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ambitious for success, he devoted himself to a taxing regime of work, planning a twofold campaign aimed at the markets for portraiture and subject paintings. He balanced his works at the Salon between genre scenes—such as El Jaleo and Oyster Gatherers, Cancale—and grand interiors and portraits, exhibiting The