Paul Sargent - Works of Art

"I paint more landscape pictures than any other kind, although I like all kinds. My idea is that one can specialize too much in painting, so I am working on landscapes, figure paintings and animals most of the time.” – Paul T. Sargent

Fall colors, overpowering trees, wheat, and crashing waves are all subjects that can be seen within a collection of Paul Sargent paintings. He had a flair for landscapes, a passion for the land and nature. His roads and streams are humble, peaceful glances of a place that Sargent once was. In Samuel Sargent's biography, he discusses his brother's enthusiasm for painting outdoors: “His school was all outdoors, nature in the raw… He wanted his scenes to be of nature as she grew without man's help. His trees must be as they grew out in the open and not pampered by man.” 

Having been academically taught, Sargent’s painting techniques were usually by the book. He fits within the academics of the nineteenth century Realism. His earlier works often were done in subdued colors within a limited palette. Over time, his strokes began to change, his palette grew, and his colors became more brilliant. His works became less representative, making his later works more Impressionistic.

A great amount of his paintings came from inspiration of his travels, literally painting a landscape with the waves of Florida at his feet, or underneath the tallest trees of Sequoia Park in California. Yet, it is the landscapes of home that tend to stand out within a collection of Sargent paintings. His recreated the land of his childhood, with many of his paintings representing locations within Coles County, including Fox Ridge, Coles County Hill-Lands, Paradise Lake and the Embarras River. Sargent seems to have preferred the bright yellows, reds, and oranges of the fall, but he certainly was not afraid of an Illinois winter. Even on the coldest of days, he would trudge outside and paint and sketch for his latest painting. 

Listed below are the three main categories in which Paul Sargent painted; landscapes, portraits and still life. All listed paintings come from the Tarble Arts Center’s collection of Sargent paintings at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston Illinois.

Bibliography
Goodrick, Evelyn. "Paul Sargent: The Prairie as Landscape." Illinois Magazine, September - October 1987, 5-8.

“Paul Sargent, Robert Root & The Brown County Artist Colony.” Tarble Arts Center Eastern Illinois University. January 28- February 26, 1995 (Exhibit Brochure)

Sargent, Paul. The Autobiography of Paul Turner Sargent Written in 1933. Charleston, IL: Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, 1999. Print.

Sargent, Samuel. “Paul Turner Sargent” Biography. Unpublished.