Image Credit: Simplon – Mrs Barnard and her Daughter Dorothy, photo by Birmingham Museums Trust
This new exhibition curated by Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum showcases the work of John Singer Sargent, one of the most celebrated portrait painters of his time, and his role within the Broadway colony of artists in Worcestershire.
His summers spent in the county saw the American artist break free from the conventions of Salon-style studio painting to experiment with Impressionism and work ‘en plein air’.
The exhibition includes works not previously seen in Worcester, with loans from Tate, British Museum, Ashmolean Museum and Houghton Hall.
The exhibition reflects the importance of the Broadway colony of artists on Worcestershire’s artistic heritage; the circle of avant-garde creatives included Alfred Parsons, Francis Millet, Edwin Austin Abbey and Edward Elgar.
John Singer Sargent was influenced both by traditional realism and by the growing spirit of Impressionism. He became most renowned as a portraitist, with a remarkable ability to capture the individual likeness and character of his sitters, many of whom were wealthy patrons on both sides of the Atlantic.
Over the course of his career, Singer Sargent focused on society portraiture, impressionist landscapes of his travels, and, as an Official War Artist from 1918, the devastating effects of modern chemical warfare.
The exhibition, which has been funded by Arts Council England through the Museum Renewal Fund, also features works from Worcester’s own collection, by artists contemporary to Singer Sargent including Pissarro, Whistler, BW Leader and a newly acquired Renoir lithograph on display for the first time.
The exhibition runs from 17 January - 14 June at Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. The Art Gallery & Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm and Sunday 10am – 3pm. Tickets for the exhibition can be booked at www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk