Sunday, January 13, 2019

John singer Sargent's "Repose"

I have many favorite artworks in the National Gallery of Art. This is one of them. "Repose" was painted by John Singer Sargent in 1911. His niece, Rose-Marie Ormond is the elegantly languid model. Sargent painted it at a time when he was tired of the restrictions of commissioned portraits which required capturing a likeness and hinting at a personality, but in a flattering way. This painting strikes me as more about a creating a feeling of calmness. I can easily get lost in the subtle colors and the luminous texture of her satin dress, but it's the composition that holds me. It's all about the horizontal shapes and lines. I cannot visit "Repose" right now and neither can you. The National Gallery is closed because of the government shutdown.