The Satyr and the Peasant in Juxtaposition    (Frontpage) (Thumbnail Index)  (What's New)
 

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The Satyr and the Peasant
Johann Liss, German (c. 1597-1631)
c. 1623/1626
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Peter A. B. Widener
John Singer Sargent
1903
(behind the figure is The Satyr and the Peasant
owned by Peter Widener)

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The Satyr and the Peasant in Juxtaposition
 



Q. I wonder what the old boy was up to, having JSS put that in the background!

What an interesting puzzle indeed. I think there are a couple of different things that could be going on.

We know that Peter Widener was quite wealthy and he had been an art collector for some time. His house at Lynnewood Hall was filled with some major pieces of old Grand Masters (which would later be donated by his son – many of which ended up at the National Gallery of Art). For Sargent to take the time to copy and study these old wonderful works of the Masters is an opportunity I’m sure he availed himself. In the process of copying one of these works Sargent might have suggested to Peter that he stand in front  – “Peter, why don’t you stand here and let me paint you again?”  It might have been that simple.

There is some evidence that something like this may have happened. When the painting

MFA at Copley Square  
1st site for Museum

was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts (the old Copley Square building) in June of that year (’03), a reviewer for the Boston Transcript found the background (the Johann Liss’ painting) to be in conflict with the main figure and not subdued enough for what would be expected of a typical portrait. Peter Widener, it said was “Extremely fine,” but the impasto of the background “seems to us hardly flat enough: it disturbs by its relief, in spite of its unquestionably fine tonality.” (Boston Evening Transcript, June 12, 1903, n.p.; quoted in John Singer Sargent, The Later Portraits ;Ormond and Kilmurray;  Yale University, 2003; p. 116)

Another explanation, just as plausible to my mind, is that Sargent hadn’t quite figured out how to complete his composition. You can see that there is evidence of a picture frame above Peter’s head – upper left corner. Sargent would often flank his


Mrs. John J. Chapman (Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler)
1893

sitters with paintings. The portrait of Mrs. John J. Chapman is a good example. Maybe Sargent changed his mind in midstream. The painting of The Satyr and the Peasant appears to be the beginning of a painting over of the smaller picture frame idea. Besides the clear representation of the “Peasant” you can see the beginnings of the clothing of the wife above Widener’s head AND – look closely – the beginning of the Satyr’s hand which begins to cover the right side of the smaller frame.

Now, to spice this delicious story even further, apparently Peter had bought The Satyr and the Peasant in 1897 under the assumption that it was a work by the Great Master Valazquez, not a Johann Liss. (Ormond and Kilmurray, p.115) It seems that Peter Widener had been bamboozled by art dealers who "blow hot and cold with the same breath!"

Since this less formal portrait of Peter had never been intended, if my assumption is correct, maybe this was given as a gift which explains its unfinished nature. Both men might have liked the inside joke. There was really no need to finish painting in the
Satyr -- Peter is the Satyr.


John Singer Sargent

Peter A. B. Widener
1903
(behind the figure is The Satyr and the Peasant
owned by Peter Widener)

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By:  Natasha Wallace
Copyright 1998-2005 all rights reserved
Created 3/14/2005