Study for ‘Hell’ 1903 - 1916

John Singer Sargent made this pencil study for ‘Hell’, sometime in his career, and the subject matter hints at the social realities he might have been engaging with. The image evokes suffering through its depiction of the human form contorted in agony. This anguished figure can be understood in relation to the social upheavals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sargent, though known for portraiture, was not immune to the anxieties of his time, and here he seems to be tapping into broader cultural fears. Perhaps the figure is a reference to the labor movements, class struggles and political violence that marked this period in Europe and America? To fully understand the image, we can draw on primary source materials, such as period newspapers, political pamphlets, and theoretical texts. These materials offer a deeper understanding of the social conditions that shaped Sargent's artistic vision. Art, then, is not created in a vacuum, but is contingent on the society that produces it.