Studies for ‘The Fall of Gog and Magog’ II 1903 - 1916

John Singer Sargent made this preparatory study for ‘The Fall of Gog and Magog’ with pencil, probably searching for a way to render these biblical giants with suitable drama. Look at how the light falls on the figures, one rendered with deep tonal shading, the other lightly sketched. You can almost feel him deciding how much detail is needed, how much to leave to the imagination. This is not about precise representation but about capturing a sense of weight and dynamism. The upper figure is a mass of furious scribbles, the lower figure a more delicate, tentative dance of lines. Sargent is often compared to painters like Manet, but I also see a kinship with someone like Goya in these studies. Both artists were masters of capturing the grotesque and the sublime, often in the same image. Art is, after all, a conversation across time, a constant reinterpretation of old ideas and forms. It is about ambiguity, not answers.