Dennis Miller Bunker: John Sargent, Pt. 2

"Dennis Miller Bunker Painting at Calcot" by J.S. Sargent

"It was inevitable that John Sargent and Dennis Bunker, once they were thrown together, should become close friends. Both were completely absorbed by the art of painting and each admired the talent of the other. But, in addition to this, the two painters had a common bond in their devotion to literature and music. Sargent's cosmopolitan culture could not but be fascinating to a young man, and Sargent became deeply attached to Bunker. Thirty years later, in a conversation with Clayton Johns he told the latter he could remember no one whom he had held in greater affection.

And so Dennis Miller Bunker's summer plans for 1888 resolved themselves into a trip to England, short visits to London, and some weeks spent with the Sargents at Calcot. Writing to Mrs. Gardner he described life there. 

'Sargent 'fils' is working away at all sort of things and making experiments without number. He makes them look awfully well - the experiments I mean - and is altogether a wonderful being.' Again, with a reference to his own laborious days, he continues, 'I hasten to add that I have other occupations such, for instance, as lawn-tennis which we play vigorously every evening and which causes us to nod about the drawing-room, while John plays Tristan and Isolde - or the Gotterdammerung.' 

This is a brief glimpse into the English visit, but it is sufficiently vivid to give a clear idea of what the summer must have been."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Dennis Miller Bunker" by R.H. Ives Gammell.)