Study for Figure above ‘Music’ II 1919 - 1920

John Singer Sargent made this drawing with graphite on paper as a study for a larger project, and I'm completely drawn into the simple economy of its marks. There is such a clear delight in mark-making and looking. The figure emerges from the ground of the paper with just a few well-placed lines, soft shadows, and smudges. You can almost feel Sargent thinking through the pose, the way the light falls, the body's weight. I wonder about the model, too. Was he comfortable? Did they talk? This drawing feels so immediate, so alive, it is as though Sargent were having a conversation. It’s this kind of exchange between artist and subject that makes portraiture so compelling. You get the sense he's really looking, seeing, and responding. It reminds me of the drawings of Ingres – the same kind of clean, confident line. There’s a real visual intelligence there. Artists, you know, we’re all just talking to each other across time like that!