Fumée d'Abre Gris

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John Singer Sargent, Fumée d'Ambre Gris, 1880
The ability to shape columns and drape fabric from one color - white - intrigued and delighted Salon critics. Heralded early on for his dynamism and already breathtakingly diverse range, John Singer Sargent used Fumée d'Ambre Gris as a key card into higher social circles. When describing this painting in her book Strapless, Deborah Davis calls to the reader's attention an interesting bit of trivia about the origins of the smoke curling up in tendrils around the "magnificently dressed Arab woman['s]" face. Davis contends that the substance, "ambre gris," is "derived from whale sperm [and] is said to act as an aphrodisiac when inhaled or ingested." This fun fact brings an element of grittiness and privacy as well as exotic elegance to the painting. 

However, a brief inquest into the history of ambre gris tells a different story. The leading ingredient in many perfumes during Sargent's time, ambre gris originates not from the sperm of a whale, but from sperm wales, as explored in detail in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Melville comments on the hypocrisy of the whole business by posing the question "Who would think, then, that such fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale!" While whaling was considered a putrid trade, the musk scent of whale vomit ironically pleased the women of society.

But Fumée d'Ambre Gris doesn't try to subvert the image of the whaling trade or promote the sales of perfumes. Sargent had a knack for capturing fleeting moments in time and space with perfection. Making critics sit up and take notice, Fumée d'Ambre Gris teased Sargent's audience with a taste of what was yet to come. 

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