Decaying Sargents

It takes a very great painter indeed to believe so ardently in his own immortality that he will take precautions, as he lays on his colors, for the physical endurance of the chemicals that compose them. Such a painter would say to the shopman who provides him with his materials: "The last indigo you sold me was vile. It will look like the devil in 500 years. Now I must have a chrome that will last a thousand; give me a wash that doomsday cannot crackE_P]

This period has seen no painter with such a brave conceit. Some critics have thought that John Singer Sargent might have had it, but evidently he did not, for his paintings have begun to decay. Not noticeablyless. Sargent had a way of using bitumen and laying thin pigments on heavier ones; he painted as carelessly as if his masterpieces were no more than the facile originals for magazine covers or cigaret advertisements.

On hearing this news, Sargent's many admirers were alarmed. His fame is likely to last longer than his pictures, they lamented. Others winked at each other. He is lucky, they seemed to say. If his paintings go to seed quickly enough, they may not be forced to outlive his reputation.