1899
charcoal
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Study for "Dogma of the Redemption: Frieze of Angels" [verso] is a 1899 charcoal by John Singer Sargent, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
You see a loose, smudgy charcoal sketch of angels—wings, robes, and halos—drawn on the back of another sheet. Sargent made this as a quick study for a much larger mural in a Boston library. The angels were meant to look like they were floating in golden light, so he practiced their poses here. The smudges aren’t mistakes; they’re how he tested how light would hit the fabric. It’s rare to see the messy, working side of a finished painting. If you like how he builds form with soft lines, look up cross-hatching.
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Belle Époque and Edwardian-era luxury.
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