The paper I gave at the Sargentology Conference presents a brief survey, review and comment upon fictional stories and novels
in which Sargent figures as a character, in either a major or minor role,
including his role in my own novels. Issues discussed include: how far
story-telling can outrun fact and still be plausible, interesting and even
informative; what the imagination adds to our understanding of the facts of
Sargent’s actual life; how an author creates the psychological “truth” of a
person whose mind and thoughts cannot be known or tapped into; what human
depths can be explored in regard to Sargent’s paintings and portraits by
imagining the scenes or interactions that are captured in the paint. These and
other questions will be addressed, using illustrations from various novels,
short stories, a play, and the influence of Sargent’s paintings on the written
work.
If you would like to read this paper, please send me your email in a comment below and I can send you an email copy.
The first ever Sargentology Conference was held at the University of York, at King's Manor, (left) a centuries-old building that is used for conferences as well as for academic pursuits. Some forty attendees from universities and museums throughout Europe and North America gathered to share and discuss "new perspectives" of John Singer Sargent and his art. My talk on Sargent as a Fictional Character was part of the "Sargent and Literature" panel. There were other presentations and panels which explored his music, the way he painted, the materials available to him, and various other interesting aspects of his life and art. We all met for dinner at Gray's Court Inn (right) where we dined in style and with scintillating conversations. I'll write more soon about the presentations, but here for now are some photos of the wondrous, magical City of York.
The University of York is hosting a "Sargentology" conference at the end of April -- and my paper on "John Singer Sargent as a Character in Historical Fiction" has been accepted! The conference will be held at the King's Manor conference center (seen here) which looks old and beautiful!
I'm going to be on a panel with other presenters for the "Sargent and Literature" section, and I'll also be chairing a panel on "Sargent and the Zeitgeist". You can see more about the conference at www.sargentology.com.
My initial research has turned up several children's and YA stories or short novels featuring Sargent, some of which are really interesting. Of course I'll be talking about my own novel, and the new mystery series I've started with Sargent and his friend Violet Paget as the amateur sleuths. There was another mystery with Sargent in it written in 2002 titled "A Weekend at Blenheim" which portrays Sargent as a fairly racy, adulterous and randy sort who gets busy with Consuelo, the wife of the 9th Duke of Marlborough (Winston Churchill's uncle) in 1905. A very interesting short story by Allan Gurganus (author of The Last Living Confederate Widow) is included in his collection, The Practical Heart. It's intriguing and wonderful to see how writers depict this famous painter, who was, by all accounts, a very private person and hard to pin down in many areas of his life--so much room for imagination!
And of course I'm looking forward to a first-ever trip to the famous city of York, with its incredibly beautiful cathedral church, or York Minster.
John Singer Sargent was born on this day 160 years ago, in Florence, Italy -- 12 January 1856. Over the course of the next 75 years until his death in 1925, he drew, sketched, coloured and painted some
900 oil paintings and 2,000 watercolours! He was a prodigious, fast and exceptionally skilled artistic genius, and over the last two decades or so, his star has been rising again -- thanks for the most part to his great-great-nephew Richard Ormond, who has been instrumental in providing the world with the Catalog Raisonne of Sargent's works. Ormond was also the leading light behind the magnificent exhibition "Sargent and His Friends" that recently showed at the NY Met Museum, and previous to that, in London at the National Gallery.
I have been in love with Sargent and his work since 1999, when I saw my first exhibition of his work at the Washington D.C. National Gallery. It was there and then that I vowed I would write a novel about this artist, and in particular, his amazing "Portraits d'Enfants", also known as the Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.
Much later, I was to learn that my very favorite author, Henry James, was an intimate friend and patron of Sargent, and my literary sights were set -- my novel Portraits of an Artist -- has three scenes with Henry James in them! (N.B. Henry James died in 1916, so this year is a huge year for all sorts of Jamesian gatherings around the world.)
Happy Birthday, John Singer Sargent!
The paper I gave at the Sargentology Conference presents a brief survey, review and comment upon fictional stories and novels
in which Sargent figures as a character, in either a major or minor role,
including his role in my own novels. Issues discussed include: how far
story-telling can outrun fact and still be plausible, interesting and even
informative; what the imagination adds to our understanding of the facts of
Sargent’s actual life; how an author creates the psychological “truth” of a
person whose mind and thoughts cannot be known or tapped into; what human
depths can be explored in regard to Sargent’s paintings and portraits by
imagining the scenes or interactions that are captured in the paint. These and
other questions will be addressed, using illustrations from various novels,
short stories, a play, and the influence of Sargent’s paintings on the written
work. 
