Sargent's Sketches Capture Spirit of Flamenco Dance

John Singer Sargent: Studies for "El Jaleo" and "The Spanish Dancer"

at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum through November 22

Jaleo is the Spanish word for ruckus or uproar. In 1886, John Singer Sargent masterfully captured the uproar of the flamenco dance in his well-known work "El Jaleo."

Through November 22, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is featuring a special exhibit of Singer's drawings and studies for "El Jaleo"--in the Gardner permanent collection--and for "The Spanish Dancer"--a painting recently rediscovered in France and brought to the United States.

Isabella Stewart Gardner was a friend and patron of John Singer Sargent. She went to Spain in 1888, and it fascinated her--she said of the country: "Here one feels existence." She soon began collecting the artwork that now adorns the Spanish Cloister of the Museum. Her cousin gave her "El Jaleo," the focal point of this area. Later, Sargent presented his patron with the sketches for this painting.

The exhibit of the sketches and studies for the finished work is installed in the small special exhibitions gallery. "El Jaleo" itself hangs in its established place in the Museum--Gardner specified in her will that her collection had to remain exactly where she placed it. Because the preliminary designs are in a different room from the final product, it is somewhat difficult to appreciate the evolution of the work. But of course, the permanence of the Gardner collection is one of the Museum's most unusual assets.

Sargent's sketches and studies capture the motion that he saw in the flamenco dance. Some of the works are quick sketches of the faces, hands and arms of the main figure and of the background figures; others are complete works in themselves.

For example, the life-size portrait "The Spanish Dancer" depicts a figure essentially the same as the main figure in "El Jaleo." As the exhibition tags note, "The Spanish Dancer" "represents Sargent's first complete treatment of the subject he would again take up in the expanded composition of "El Jaleo.'" Her arms and neck show the strength of an accomplished dancer; the blur of her swirling clothing shows the movement of the dance. Singer displays his skill in the precise rendering of her clothing.

"El Jaleo" depicts a dancer performing before musicians and other dancers. As in "The Spanish Dancer," the woman's strong body suggests her mastery of her trade. The exhibition space of the Gardner adds to the drama of this work--it has been a striking feature of the Gardner for years. The special exhibition offers an exciting opportunity to gain insights into the painting and the artist.