George Frederick McCorquodale 1902

John Singer Sargent made this portrait of George Frederick McCorquodale with oil on canvas. It's a full-length portrait with a dark palette and a certain softness about it. Looking at this, I imagine Sargent, brush in hand, stepping back, squinting, and then lunging forward to capture a detail—the glint in the eye, the curve of the mustache. The paint is applied in these thin, washy layers, built up to create a sense of depth and form, but it's like he doesn’t want to get bogged down in details. I wonder if Sargent thought about Velasquez when he painted this work. The way McCorquodale is standing reminds me of the portraits of Kings. Also the dark background which makes the character emerge. This kind of painting is really about seeing, isn't it? I'm sure that, one way or another, Sargent was in conversation with a whole history of painters while making this portrait.