Clyde Aspevig, John Singer Sargent & Richard Ormond

John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation." He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. His impressionistic work is much beloved to this day. In 1916 - he painted Lake O'Hara in the Canadian Rockies. It is a stunning piece. 

Lake O'Hara by John Singer Sargent - 1916

Clyde Aspevig saw this painting at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard in 1975. He and his wife Carol have spent many happy days hiking through this area, and recently did his own view of Lake O’Hara from Sargent Point in celebration of the master. It measures 60 x 96 inches. 

Clyde and his recent work "Lake O'Hara" from Sargent point, in celebration of the master John Singer Sargent. 60x96"

​Clyde reached out to share the piece with Richard Ormond - one of the foremost authorities on John Singer Sargent and the former deputy director of the National Portrait Gallery and director of the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory in Greenwich England. Ormond's reply is below: 

Dear Clyde, 

The catalogues have arrived for which best thanks. I wish I could see your paintings in the flesh, but even in reproduction they give great pleasure capturing the spirit of the west, those sweeping views across the prairie to distant mountains, great skies, mountains up-close, placid lakes and snow scenes. But you do near as well as far, and I enjoyed your close-ups of streams and plants. It was a clever idea to match more finished works with premiere coup sketches in the spreads. You don't include people but humanity is everywhere implied in the spectacle of nature.

I appreciated your kind words about my Sargent work. Like artists, art historians cast their work on the water never knowing if it will sink or swim, be appreciated and read, strike a chord and give pleasure, or sink without trace to the basement. That I have had so many responses to the Sargent catalogue raisonne makes the effort seem worthwhile and gives me the uplift to continue my work.

All good wishes
Richard

Another masterful painter, Ian McKibben White, had this to say about Clyde's new "Lake O'Hara."

"Mostly, Clyde, I want to enthuse about your magnificent painting of Lake O'Hara. Your "biggest painting ever." It's a real zinger! How big is it? Right up there on the scale of those Thomas Morans in Washington, D.C. I found as I study it, my eye travels into the painting at different speeds. I follow the logs from their tips above water down their submerged lengths to luxuriate in the depths of the emerald green water. When I surface I go left around the line of shallow rocks to find the opening to the far reaches of the lake. My eye climbs the reflection of the sunlit butte and past it, zigzagging up the  gorge... presumably the water source that supplies the lake from the snow above. I cross the snow fields and exit into the clouds in the sky. It's been an exhilarating journey. Now, I back off to take in the composition as a whole and admire the stands of trees left and right of center stage as if waiting in the wings to take part in the drama. In your honor and for a better chance to study the painting over time, I have made it my computer screen background image." 

More about Ian McKibben White and his work can be found here. 

Clyde Aspevig painting in the Canadian Rockies

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​You can learn more about John Singer Sargent's masterpieces in Richard Ormond's book - here. ​