John Singer Sargent, Dennis Miller Bunker at Calcot, 1888

John Singer Sargent reached the apex of his fame through his portraiture, becoming a leader of his generation. Dennis Miller Bunker at Calcot, an example of Sargent’s informal studies and landscape paintings, portrays Dennis Miller Bunker in an impressionist style. Although Sargent was not known for impressionist paintings, he pays homage to Bunker by replicating his style. The painting fits into Sargent’s impressionist phase during the 1880s. The painting differs from Sargent’s usual portraits, because it is a genre painting. However, Sargent often painted genre paintings for his friends, the Boits, for example.

Sargent surrounded himself with friends and family. Like Sargent, Bunker enjoyed having a circle of both talented and successful friends. He met Bunker in Boston on his trip to America, where the two painters won commissions from the outspoken of Isabella Stewart Gardner. The two attracted each other with similar interests in portraiture and impressionism. Later, Bunker joined Sargent and his family in Calcot, England during the summer,where they painted together. Pictured are Bunker (left) and Sargent’s sister Violet (right). Sargent studied Bunker’s paintings and worked off  of his style. Similar to the Manet piece of Monet, in a style outside of his comfort zone, Sargent’s comfort level did not extend further than portraits, even though his talent did.

No paintings from this trip by Bunker have survived, presumably he destroyed them out of personal dissatisfaction. The trip allowed Bunker the chance to improve his skills, though,  for his return to Boston saw a series of paintings that displayed his understanding of impressionism. On December 28, 1890, Dennis Miller Bunker died of heart failure caused by meningitis at the age of 29.