Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 9 March 2024
La Carmencita, by John Singer Sargent (1890), Musée d'Orsay, Paris.Willem and I are in London at the moment to pick up TRC items lent to the Museum of Fashion from their exhibition called “The Fabric of Democracy”, which was curated by Amber Butchart. We decided also to visit several exhibitions in different venues in London, to see various specific items and get new ideas and inspiration.
Over the years we have seen good exhibitions, bad exhibitions, and some that reminded us of the ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ (i.e. there was nothing there, literally). So on Friday afternoon we went with great curiosity to Tate Britain to see their new exhibition Sargent and Fashion (with paintings by the American artist John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925).
The exhibition was slated in a review in the Guardian (20 February) by Jonathan Jones as being “A horrible exhibition” (in his first sentence). “Sargent’s gloriously rich and subtle paintings can’t be reduced to dreary facts about hats, dresses and opera gowns. Sadly, that’s just what’s happened” Jones seems to have disliked the paintings being displayed together with the garments actually worn by the people being portrayed. It appears to have distracted him from Art.
Outfit worn in Sargent's painting by the Spanish dancer Carmen Dauset Morena, better known as Carmencita. Photograph by Willem Vogelsang.Well, to put it mildly, we think Jonathan Jones got it completely wrong, and we enjoyed the exhibition enormously, and so did the many people around us.
Basically Jones only wanted to see paintings, but it was wonderful to have the garments, fans, hats, and hair accessories displayed near the paintings and to have the objects and paintings put into context and to see how Sargeant used this items.
What also became clear from the exhibition is that Sargent understood textiles! He could paint velvet and satin together, he could drape and use light and at times you wanted to feel and touch the garments depicted. In other words: he could paint.
In some cases there was a painting and the dress, on another occasion painting and hat, or even a dress with a facsimily of the painting. There was even a painting shown together with the actual outfit worn by the woman being portrayed, and a film from the period where the same person was moving and dancing in the same outfit. Garments are three dimensional items and it was lovely and fascinating to see the three elements, dress, painting and film, together. It was also a treat to get close to a dress designed by the English/Parisian House of Worth and see how much thought had gone into the choice of cloth and pattern placement, as well as the making of this piece of art.
'Cashmere,' by John Singer Sargent (1908). Private collection.
There was also a section in the exhibition about Kashmir shawls and how they influenced some of Sargent’s paintings. In one painting (‘Cashmere’, 1908), Sargent's niece is shown wearing a Kashmir shawl in seven different poses. The shawl and how it was draped were more important than the woman portrayed.
What was noticeable was the number of people in the exhibition, men and women, and to listen (forgive me) to their comments, which indicated how the exhibition was an eye opener (especially for some of the men) as to how important clothing is for sending out messages (this is the common theme of so much we are doing at the TRC: studying the Language of Dress), the work involved and the number of people needed to make some of the garments. And several times I heard ‘I did not know’. An exhibition after my own heart, I want people to leave the TRC as well with the same words: ‘I did not know’. As you may have realised, we really enjoyed the exhibition and appreciated the amount of time and effort that went into making it.
'Gassed,' by John Singer Sargent (1919). Imperial War Museum.
Right at the end, after admiring those wonderful paintings and gorgeous dresses, there was a reproduction of another painting by Sargent, which he made almost at the end of his life, and now in the Imperial War Museum, not far from Tate Britain. Sargent finished it in March 1919. It is called 'Gassed', and reflects the horrors of the First World War by a line of men walking one after the other, being blinded by poisonous gas. The contrast with his other work is staggering. Here is a real artist who knew his craft, who could show beautiful robes, but also the depth to which humans can sink.
The exhibition is open to the 7th July and if you have time it is certainly worth a visit. If not there is a catalogue to the exhibition which provides even more background information and a wide range of colour illustrations.
