How two people changed the history of painting in the twentieth century, and destroyed John Singer Sargent’s reputation.
critics
How one critic established the success of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, but set its landscape painters an impossible challenge.
He became the most influential critic of painting in Britain, providing the Pre-Raphaelites with strong support. But that proved capricious, and eventually destructive to landscape painting.
The recent exhibition of Sargent’s informal portraits raises questions not so much about his work, but more about his critics.