4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2023.

Images(2)

The Countess of Lathom

Artist John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925)

Date1904

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions89 3/4 x 67 5/8 in. (228 x 171.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 99 x 76 3/4 in. (251.5 x 194.9 cm)

ClassificationsAmerican art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.502

Terms

Woman
Nobleman
Blue
Brown
Creme
Gold
Plum
England

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is a large oil on canvas painting. It is a full-length portrait of a seated lady. She wears a deep plum colored dress, which contrasts her pearly white skin. Her neck and face are long and slender. Her hair is pulled up on her head. Her right hand holds a delicate handkerchief, elbow resting on the arm of the chair. Her left arm rests on the chair dangling a gold chain in her fingers. Her dress is trimmed with gauzy light colored material. The setting is a dark room near a fireplace. The background is shadowed.

Label TextJohn Singer Sargent American, 1856–1925 The Countess of Lathom, 1904 Oil on canvas “Ask me to paint your gates, your fences, your barns, which I should gladly do, but not the human face,” begged John Singer Sargent after completing this picture of Lady Wilma Pleydell-Bouverie Bootle-Wilbraham, Countess of Lathom (1869–1931)—“Queenie” for short. Such privileged clients adored Sargent’s vigorous, gestural brushstrokes for the modern but elegant energy they brought to traditional portraiture. These commissions generated income and prestige, but Sargent sought more creative projects. He later turned exclusively to painting landscapes and allegorical murals for grand public buildings. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.502