A BRUSH WITH GENIUS

A major exhibition at The Met examines John Singer Sargent's time in Paris, where he skyrocketed from a promising student into the sensation of the Salon By Anne Underwood

- Anne Underwood

When John Singer Sargent arrived in Paris in 1874, he was just 18 years old, but he had already chosen a career in art. Paris was then the center of the art world, and Sargent's parents and two sisters moved there with him to provide support. As his father wrote, "We flatter ourselves (perhaps it is a parental delusion) that he will make something out of himself more than common." By the time Sargent left Paris 12 years later, that was no longer in question.

A new exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art called Sargent and Paris, traces his meteoric rise in the crucial decade from 1874 to 1884, from his first appearance in the teaching studio of Carolus-Duran through his infamous portrait of Madame X, which scandalized the Paris Salon. "This 10-year period was one of remarkable discovery and experimentation for Sargent," says Stephanie L. Herdrich, curator of American painting and drawings at the American Wing of The Met. "It's this combination of skill, ambition, innocence and boundary pushing that leads him to create some of his boldest, most progressive works."

In the Met's exhibition, the range of Sargent's talents is on full display. Mounted in collaboration with the Musée d'Orsay in Paris to mark the 100th anniversary of Sargent's death, the show includes iconic portraits, but also lesser-known works—astonishingly good student sketches; rarely seen portraits; paintings from Sargent's extensive travels through France, Italy, Spain and Morocco; studies for Madame X, and more.