Earlier quoted context omitted.
The technique of the greatest painters is often not particularly difficult to copy. In my late teens I considered doing replica paintings to make money. I did a few, and I was somewhat surprised at how good they looked and how easy they were, and I’m only technically middling. (The dealer was only offering $200-$600 for them, and with material costs, it wasn’t worth it in the end.) Some painters are technically amazi…
I would call Sargent a great artist by any standard, and in multiple mediums. He may have made his money in portraiture, but even then he generated pieces like The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit that are outstanding art. But outside or portraits, his murals and bas reliefs are absolutely phenomenal and worth traveling for.
Re: Master art forger Eric Hebborn keeps 'playing a great trick from the grave'
#21I like Sargent, and have seen a lot of his major works in person. I suppose I’m using a pretty high threshold for “great”, which I’d reserve for the top tier. My point was that the artistic worth of a painting is not tightly correlated to the technical skill of its painter. Good enough is usually all that’s needed.