Masters of Light: Learning from Sargent and Sorolla
Light plays a pivotal role in art. As an artist, I love seeing how other painters approach light and how, when used well, it can make the difference between a painting that is average and one that sings. To render a 3D object in a 2D plane, value is the only way to create that illusion, but so many artists get this at a higher level, and that is part of what can make a painting grab your attention and hold it. Of course for me, this is an important element to my work, and central to the emotion that I want to relate to the viewer, regardless of the subject. Some of my favorite artists are masters of their craft in so many ways, but particularly this one.
There are too many paintings of John Singer Sargent's to point to as extraordinary representations of light, but one of the most well-known is Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose which hangs in the Tate Britain. It was an important painting for Sargent, and he worked on it en plein air, in many sessions, at twilight, over two summers. His meticulousness at capturing the light is stunning, and when you look closely, you can see that it does have loose brush strokes, emblematic of the impressionist movement. When taking in the painting as a complete work from a few steps away, there is nothing that feels loose about it. The girls in the painting are lighting lanterns which glow from within, as the glow from the setting sun hits the nearby lilies and the girls' white dresses. It is ethereal and believably real at the same time.
Painting from life allowed Sargent the opportunity to observe natural light and how it changes. Working outdoors with the newly invented squeezable paint tubes, Sargent could paint rapidly and spontaneously, capturing the vivid colors of nature and how light changes throughout the day. His friendship with Claude Monet proved particularly influential—Sargent enjoyed watching Monet painting en plein air and his impressionistic, more gestural style influenced his own paintings. Conversely, Sargent had been trained with a much tighter, classical painting technique. This outdoor practice allowed him to develop his signature approach of working with a limited but strategic color palette, with signature colors including Ultramarine Blue and Vandyke Brown, with Viridian as his favorite green. The immediacy required in plein air painting forced him to become increasingly economical with his brushwork, leading to the confident, alla prima technique that would define his mature style.
Another painter that I admire is Joaquín Sorolla. Sorolla was a Spanish contemporary painter often called the "Master of Light," who shared Sargent's passion for plein air painting but developed distinctly different techniques for capturing Mediterranean brilliance. His main pursuit and innovation in painting was the study of light, rigorously captured from real life and en plein air, gradually evolving into an immediate, spontaneous and sophisticated language. Sorolla's technique involved bold temperature contrasts that went beyond mere observation—he pushed the local colors in his lights more towards the yellow than they actually were, and pushed the local colors in his shadows towards the blue or violet more than they were. He painted in the open air, often quite rapidly, creating over 500 paintings in one four-year period, with some paintings appearing almost unfinished as he was not averse to leaving less-essential areas of the canvas in a rough state. This approach allowed him to capture the blazing intensity of Spanish sunlight with an almost scientific precision, yet maintain the spontaneous energy that made his beach scenes and portraits so compelling.
Both artists understood that successful plein air painting required not just technical skill but also the ability to work decisively under changing conditions. Sorolla loved to paint from life and if possible en plein air, creating sun-drenched beach scenes and luminous portraits, influenced by the Impressionists and their use of color with separate brushstrokes applied to maintain spontaneity. While Sargent's approach was more restrained and controlled, favoring subtle color harmonies and sophisticated tonal relationships, Sorolla embraced the full intensity of Mediterranean light with exaggerated color temperatures and bold contrasts. Their shared commitment to outdoor painting allowed both masters to develop visual languages that could translate the physical sensation of light into paint, creating works that seem to pulse with the energy of their original light sources. This dedication to plein air practice fundamentally shaped their understanding of color, atmosphere, and the temporal nature of light itself.
Leafy Mandarins, Andie Freeman
Both of these artists are an inspiration for my work, as I continue to refine my approach to capturing light. Light is a character in my work, and is often the real subject. Leafy Mandarins is a painting I created recently where I hoped to achieve a feeling of raking strong sunlight across the scene. Utilizing value and temperature as tools for describing the scene, I worked to make the mandarins look luminous. The little silver bowl they sit in has a gorgeous teal enameled interior which also was a great counterbalance to the orange of the fruit. Another new painting that plays with color and light is Big Night. I painted the background to look like a flat plane of color—the stripes are inspired by mid-century flat illustration style. This is a juxtaposition to the figures in front, which are lit from behind with a bright natural light, making the left figure's shoulder glow.
Big Night, Andie Freeman
Studying these masters has taught me that light isn't just about illumination—it's about emotion, atmosphere, and the very soul of a painting. Whether it's Sargent's subtle poetry or Sorolla's bold declarations, both artists remind us that when we truly understand light, we can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. In my own work, I continue to chase that elusive quality they mastered so beautifully: the ability to make paint itself seem to glow from within, capturing not just what we see, but what we feel in the presence of beautiful light.
