In Focus: John Singer Sargent

In Focus: John Singer Sargent presents nine works from the Addison’s collection by the famed American expatriate painter on the occasion of the centennial of his death. Born into an erudite, cosmopolitan family, Sargent spent his childhood in Europe, becoming fluent in several languages while developing an abiding passion for music and art. After professional training in Paris (1874–78), Sargent won international acclaim at the annual Salon exhibitions with his imaginative, dashingly painted portraits and genre scenes. In 1886 he moved permanently to London, where he became the portraitist most favored by socialites, celebrities, and members of the ruling class. Dubbed “the Van Dyck of our times” in 1902 by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, Sargent is best known for his grand, lavish, commissioned depictions of Gilded Age socialites from both sides of the Atlantic. While the Addison does not hold any of Sargent’s grand manner portraits of members of high society, it does hold significant genre scenes and landscapes derived from Sargent’s extensive European travels. Lacking the decorousness found in many of his formal portraits, these lush, freely executed, intimate scenes convey the spontaneity, technical virtuosity, and formal daring of an artist at the height of his powers, unburdened by the constraints of commissions.

This presentation is generously supported by the Bernard and Louise Palitz Exhibitions Fund.