John Singer Sargent
American, 1856 - 1925
NationalityAmerican
BiographyPainter of glamorous portraits and sparkling landscapes. Sargent was born in Florence, Italy, the son of a Philadelphia surgeon who had retired to Europe. From 1870 to 1873 he attended classes at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence and in 1874 entered the Paris atelier of Charles-Emile-Auguste Carolus-Duran. From 1877 he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon. His reputation as a portraitist of daring originality reached a crisis point in 1884 when his portrait of Virginia Gautreau (Madame X) scandalized fashionable Paris and lost him numerous commissions. When his Paris career foundered, his friend Henry James encouraged him to settle in London, which he did in 1886. The technical brilliance of his paint handling, the inventiveness of his compositions, and his insight into personal character brought him several triumphs at the Royal Academy during the 1890s. He was elected an Associate in 1894 and a full Academician in 1897. He continued to live and work largely in England until his death.[Great British Paintings Label Text]
Person TypeIndividual
British, 1782 - 1845
Alternative Names: John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, later Earl Spencer
British, 1762 - 1831
Alternative Names: Lavinia (Bingham), Countess Spencer
British, 1880-1952
Alternative Names: Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley
British, 1728 - 1789
Alternative Names: Francis Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon
French, 1740 - 1812
Alternative Names: Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg
American, 1868 - 1932
Alternative Names: Alfred Henry Maurer
British, 1802 - 1828
Alternative Names: Richard Parkes Bonington
British, 1717 - 1779
Alternative Names: David Garrick
British, 1740 - 1782
Alternative Names: Edward, Viscount (later Earl) Ligonier
British, 1776-1837
Alternative Names: John Constable