 | "Physical Culturalist Robert Samuel, with His Coach" is among the works on view in the exhibit exploring the "elusive" artist Bruce Sargeant and others. |
The mysterious way in which a group of artists can produce works that are so different and yet so interconnected is explored in "Mark Beard: Works by 'Bruce Sargeant' and His Circle," the newest exhibition at Jonathan Edwards College (JE).
The show will be on view Jan. 20-March 3 at the JE Master's House, 70 High St.
The exhibition is centered on the life and work of Bruce Sargeant, described as "a mythic figure in the modern art movement" by JE Master Gary Haller in an essay in the accompanying catalogue.
The artist, notes Haller, "embodies a world that is in many ways lost to us; he exudes a sensibility that fills every corner of his canvas; the heaviness of his figures hides an elusive levity. Many more pithy phrases could express one's reactions to the work of Bruce Sargeant -- because it seems that he is as elusive as he is evocative. It is difficult to know just who Bruce Sargeant was."
The catalogue includes many materials both by and about Sargeant. One essay by contemporary artist Mark Beard, who claims Sargeant as a great uncle, summarizes the painter's life: His birth in 1898 to an American father and English mother; his education at the Slade; and his work at his Rotterdam studio, The Firs, which included "painting portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and, most importantly, athletes."
Beard concludes: "Bruce Sargeant's paintings of the Berlin Olympics indicate a mastery that was prescient, but cut short with his tragic death in a wrestling accident in 1938."
The show and its catalogue also trace Sargeant's relationship with his "friends and enemies": his mentor Hippolyte Alexandre Michallon, who was trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; fellow art student Edith Thayer Cromwell, who became Sargeant's lifelong friend; and Brechtholdt Streeruwitz, another Slade student who Sargeant maintained had a knack for saying the "perfectly wrong thing."
Of Sargeant's relationship with the latter two, Haller writes: "It seems that all sensitive artists have their supporters and detractors ... But Sargeant existed in a crucial symbiosis with these two equally talented and troubled artists. In their constant urging at and demanding of each other (mentally, artistically, physically) a picture develops of this trio as, in a sense, three parts of the same being. It is difficult not to evaluate their work -- each quite different when seen alone -- together without seeing influences of a common aesthetic."
In addition to paintings by Sargeant, Michallon, Cromwell and Streeruwitz, the JE show features works by Mark Beard. The latter will talk about his role in creating the exhibition at a master's tea marking its opening on Thursday, Jan. 20, at 4 p.m. in the JE Master's House. A reception will follow 5-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Two other Thursday afternoon master's teas have also been scheduled in conjunction with the show. Novelist, dramatist and director Marlene Steeruwitz will discuss "Why I Love Mark Beard" on Feb. 10, and Thomas Sokolowski will present a talk titled "What a Travesty?!" on Feb. 24. Both teas will take place at 4 p.m. and will be open to the public.
"Mark Beard: Works by 'Bruce Sargeant' and His Circle" is open to the public free of charge most Thursdays 4-6 p.m. or by appointment. For information, call (203) 432-0356.
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