13. John Singer Sargent, artist

There is a show on now at the Met of John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) in Paris. American by nationality, he spent virtually his whole life in Europe—born in Florence, trained in Paris, died in London. He painted hundreds (many hundreds) of works, in both oils and watercolor. He is no doubt best known for his portraits, which were commissioned in droves in the late 1800s, but in 1906 he closed up his studio, turning to landscapes, watercolor, and more personal work. His biography is very interesting, for being quite unusual. I won't go into it—you can read all about him on Wikipedia. I'll just post a few images that I like, starting with the one he's perhaps best know for, and ending with some architectural studies from early in his career that I find pleasing. (Well, I actually end with a poem, about a nude.)

Portrait of Madame X, 1884

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882

Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood, 1885

Madame Ramón Subercaseaux, 1880–81

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885–86

A few of his watercolors:

Gourds, 1906–10

The Chess Game, c. 1907

Sir Neville Wilkinson on the Steps of the
Palladian Bridge at Wilton House, 1904–5

And those architectural studies:

Fumée d'Ambre Gris, 1880

Staircase in Capri, 1878

The Steps of the Church of SS. Domenico e Siste in Rome, 1906

Staircase, 1878

And finally, from 1917–20, a nude study of an African American elevator operator and WWI vet named Thomas McKeller, whom he featured in various works toward the end of his life.

And wouldn't you know it, Yusuf Komunyakaa wrote a poem about it:

Nude Study

Someone lightly brushed the penis

  alive. Belief is almost

      flesh. Wings beat,

dust trying to breathe, as if the figure

  might rise from the oils

      & flee the dead

artist’s studio. For years

  this piece of work was there

      like a golden struggle

shadowing Thomas McKeller, a black

  elevator operator at the Boston

      Copley Plaza Hotel, a friend

of John Singer Sargent—hidden

  among sketches & drawings, a model

      for Apollo & a bas-relief

of Arion. So much taken

  for granted & denied, only

      grace & mutability

can complete this face belonging

  to Greek bodies castrated

      with a veil of dust.

A 21st-century Black man's interpretation of a hundred-year-old painting by a 19th-century star. One has to wonder what was going on in John Singer Sargent's head when he painted this study. Or more to the point, in Thomas McKeller's.