John Singer Sargent ( 1856 - 1925)
Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife
1885
Oil on canvas
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2005.3
Early American Art Gallery
Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife
ALICE WALTON: Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife, done in 1885 by the one and only John Singer Sargent, who I personally believe is probably the greatest artist in American art from the 1800s. For 1885, the composition is so mysterious and so unusual and everybody wonders where the heck Robert Louis Stevenson is going and why his wife is over there in the corner in Lord knows what [laughter], some fancy costume with glitter on it.So John Singer Sargent painted this painting of Robert Louis Stevenson. They were close personal friends, and in 1883 to ‘84, Sargent painted perhaps his most famous painting, Madame X, which is at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. But at the time, remember this is Victorian society, and the world is very prim and proper, and Madame X was taboo and off-limits. So Sargent was ostracized. All of his society portraits that he had scheduled to paint in London were canceled by society because he had painted this outrageously sexy, provocative piece called Madame X. So he was forced to paint his friends, which is how this portrait of Stevenson and his wife came about.
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John Singer Sargent ( 1856 - 1925)
Robert Louis Stevenson y su esposa
1885
Óleo sobre lienzo
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2005.3
Early American Art Gallery
Robert Louis Stevenson y su esposa
ALICE WALTON: Robert Louis Stevenson y su esposa, fue realizado en 1885 por el célebre artista John Singer Sargent, a quien yo considero como probablemente el mejor pintor en la historia del arte estadounidense del siglo XIX. Para 1885, la composición es muy misteriosa e inusual; todo el mundo se pregunta hacia dónde se dirige Robert Louis Stevenson y por qué la esposa aparece en la esquina vestida con quién sabe qué [risas], una especie de traje sofisticado con brillos.Pero el asunto es que John Singer Sargent pintó este cuadro de Robert Louis Stevenson y su esposa. Eran amigos cercanos y, entre 1883 y 1884, Sargent había llevado a cabo su obra quizás más famosa, Madame X, que se encuentra en el Metropolitan Museum de Nueva York. Para la época —recuerden que se trataba de la sociedad victoriana y el mundo era formal y afectado—, Madame X era tabú y se consideraba fuera de los límites de lo aceptable. Por ello, se condenó socialmente a Sargent. Todos los retratos de la alta sociedad londinense que le habían encargado fueron cancelados por esa pintura intolerablemente sexy y provocadora llamada Madame X. Se vio, entonces, en la necesidad de pintar a sus amigos, y este fue el origen del retrato de Stevenson y su esposa.
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