On March 2, 2024, in a special Zoom presentation inspired by the recent “Fashioned by Sargent” exhibition at the Fine Arts Museum of Boston. Portrait artist and instructor Luana Luconi Winner shared some of the images from the exhibition and give a short history of Sargent. She then focused on Sargent’s extraordinary handling of skin tones. She explains the very specific differences in how Sargent depicted the blue bloods of Europe, the creamy debutants of the United States, and the country people in the small villages he visited on his travels.
Using mixtures of oil and of pastels, Luana recreates five different skin tones in miniature copies of Sargent’s portraits. She then gives a short portrait demonstration, copying the head only from Sargent’s portrait of Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect of the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.
Luana is a founding member of the Portrait Society of America, a Juried Member of the Portrait Society of Atlanta, an elected Master Circle member of the International Association of Pastel Societies, and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. She is also a Signature Member, past president, and honorary lifetime member of the Pastel Society of North Carolina; Member of Excellence of the Southeastern Pastel Society, North Carolina Ambassador for the Portrait Society of America; and an active member of several other art boards and national art organizations.
Notable Time stamps:
26:38 minutes, unlocking Sargent's skin color palettes in oil and pastels
39:35 minutes Olmstead portrait demo