Andrew Lambirth

Damp squib

Sargent and the Sea<br /> Royal Academy, until 26 September

issue 07 August 2010

Sargent and the Sea
Royal Academy, until 26 September

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) is an artist whose name arouses hopes of dazzling technical virtuosity even when his subjects are fairly run-of-the-mill. Famed as a portrait painter, his art (at its finest) has great glamour and stylishness, backed up by exuberant brushwork which can be truly exhilarating. So a summer-themed exhibition of Sargent and the Sea sounds a treat for all: seductive at the very least, and possibly rising to great heights, with all the explosive splendour of Franz Hals crossed with the Impressionists. Sadly, there is little of such pyrotechnics visible in the Academy’s damp squib of a show.

The first impression in the Sackler Galleries is not good: besides a very thin hang of pictures, the exhibition has been overdesigned. The wall colours, for one thing. I had a girlfriend many years ago who insisted that blue and brown did not go together.

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