Timothy Tyler: Sargent did many layers - but never in my research 40 - maybe 6 or 7. These (and thousands of other) painters went directly for the actual color. (Sargent painted 17 portraits in 6 weeks in the US.)
Tim,
It's in my memory for a portrait he did of a woman in Boston. It took him 40 settings/appointments to finish that portrait. I asked my son to get me some books on Sargent, so I will provide the information soon. Direct and indirect painting, the way it is discussed lately, is out of my understanding of the same words. So I won't argue with you or anybody else who is working from photographs and using "direct" or "indirect" methods.
Rubik
