(Written October 2023)
I have been reading the full collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures, which includes around 800 individual artists and dates from 1954. I had not been writing about the masters of oil painting until I read the volume on the three American watercolorists, Homer, Eakins, and Sargent.
John Singer Sargent’s way of thinking really struck me. His approach may actually be very close to my own process in designing architecture, even though he was a great painter.
Here are a few passages I thought were pertinent to this discussion:
- He was pressed to define what he considered the essential, the most important quality in painting, but he replied like one who had given little thought to distinctions or reasoning of this kind. When pushed further, he said as quick as a flash, “The rare thing is to find a painter who knows a good thing when he sees it! It is a gift to be able to see the beauties of nature. You must not paint everything you see. You must wait, and wait patiently until the exceptional, the wonderful effect or aspect comes. Then, if you have sense enough to see it, well, that is all there is to it.”
- The power to see, and to comprehend the exceptional qualities existing in nature, is a gift possessed by few men. It is the first and highest requisite in the pursuit of art. This was his constant attitude toward art. To select with extreme care and to get to the truth of nature, directly from nature, was his gospel.
- Of equal importance was his sense of the value of simplicity, built upon the power to delineate every detail with precision while separating the essential character from the non-essential. This is a quality of the mind.
- He naturally sees everything at once, within its envelope of light and air. He sees not in lines, but in masses, in gross, broad masses. Things come already modeled to his eye.
- He is a good man and a good citizen.
- The brilliant color and carefree life once more inspired him.
When I am asked how or why I make design decisions, my usual answer is that the site itself, together with my clients’ wants and needs, government restrictions, and input from all the consultants, locks in what I see as the best resolution for a design.
It just feels right. The faster it comes, the better it usually turns out. My designs are intentional, but they come from my heart and from experience. I do not usually have to fight for the right solution. Clients usually go with my very first options.
So, you can see why this description of John Singer Sargent’s way of painting really rang true to me.
Communication
Society is having a great deal of difficulty with people’s ability to communicate with one another. Historically, people tended to stay in one place, or at least not move very far away. With the Industrial Revolution, mass transit systems, and now the information technology world, people move quickly and often.
Within a community, each group understands what its own social methods of communication represent. Now, however, it is often difficult to know what the social norms are when communicating with people from different backgrounds. Written and spoken words, gestures, cultural differences, and political and religious viewpoints all have to be understood in relation to one another.
There has not been enough time for society to assimilate all of these different understandings, and this is affecting the peace and stability of society as a whole.
Where is the best place to start this conversation?