Mrs. William Playfair

Maker John Singer Sargent (American, 1856 - 1925)

Collections

American Paintings Selections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1887

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions60 1/2 x 39 in. (153.7 x 99.1 cm.) frame: 71 1/4 × 50 × 4 1/2 in. (181 × 127 × 11.4 cm.)

DescriptionPortrait of Emily Playfair (3/4 length) in formal dress

SignedSigned and dated at upper left

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation

Status

On view

Label TextSargent's masterful evocation of surfaces and textures-here, of Mrs. William Playfair's bejeweled gown, feathered fan, fur-trimmed opera jacket, and dragonfly hair ornament-explains why he became one of the most sought-after portrait painters in turn-of-the-century America and Europe. Although her costume and jewels indicate a formal evening affair, Playfair appears almost disarmingly relaxed, with her mouth partly open as though about to speak. In Sargent's finest portraits, his subjects carry their wealth and social status with an easy charm and grace.

Sargent exhibited this portrait of Playfair, who was the wife of a prominent British obstetrician, at the Royal Academy in London in 1887 and at the Paris Salon the following year. Critical response was overwhelmingly favorable: one writer called it "the finest piece of painting in the Academy," while another opined that it was "the best of Mr. Sargent's portraits."

Object number98.2

Terms