Crescenzo Fusciardi 1915

John Singer Sargent made this portrait of Crescenzo Fusciardi, using charcoal on paper. Look closely, and you can see how the smudged charcoal lends a softness to the face, capturing a sense of vitality. The artist is working with contrast, using heavy, dark strokes to define the model's hair and features, and lighter, more feathery strokes for shading and detail. This technique is tied to the tradition of academic drawing, a necessary skill for any painter working in Sargent's era. But think about the material itself. Charcoal is made by burning wood. It is a fragile substance, prone to smudging and easily erased. In this sense, Sargent’s choice of material, the charcoal, becomes a metaphor for the fleeting nature of beauty and the passage of time. Moreover, drawing is often seen as a preparatory medium, a means to an end. Yet here, charcoal is used to create a finished work of art. Considering the material and the making, we can begin to question the traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.