Eugene Juillerat 1878

John Singer Sargent painted this oil on canvas portrait of Eugene Juillerat in the late 19th century. It’s a small painting, but Sargent has built up the face with considerable impasto, moving the paint around the surface with real energy. There’s a lot to be said about the virtuosity involved in this process. Sargent clearly knew his way around the materiality of oil paint, and the various effects he could conjure with it. Light, shadow, and form were easily produced through the movement of his brush. The relative ease and speed with which he executed this painting is further emphasized by how, in contrast, the sitter seems stuck in the dark. We can only imagine how long Eugene Juillerat was sitting for this portrait to be made, and, how the division of labor clearly favors the artist. The contrast between the making and the subject speaks volumes about the social and economic context of the painting. It underscores the historical distinction between the artist's active role in production and the sitter's passive role as a subject.