Fashioned by Sargent
Who creates your image?
In portraits by John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), sitters assume elegant stances, the fabric of their dress richly depicted in broad, sensuous strokes of paint. Sargent brought his subjects to life, but he did much more than simply record what appeared before him. He often chose what his sitters wore and, even if they arrived in his studio dressed in the latest fashions, he frequently simplified and altered the details. Exploiting dress was an integral part of his artistry.
Organized with Tate Britain, “Fashioned by Sargent” explores the artist’s complex relationship with his often-affluent clients and their clothes. The exhibition reveals Sargent’s power over his sitters’ images by considering the liberties he took with sartorial choices to express distinctive personalities, social positions, professions, gender identities, and nationalities. Alongside about 50 paintings by Sargent, over a dozen period garments and accessories shed new light on the relationship between fashion and this beloved artist’s creative practice.
“The coat is the picture,” Sargent once told Graham Robertson, clearly articulating the role dress played in his work. The exhibition features Robertson’s portrait as well as style icons like Madame X, Lady Agnew, and Dr. Pozzi at Home. Visitors can also see several paintings together with the garments worn by the sitters, among them Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth with her beetle-wing-encrusted costume, and Mrs. Charles Inches (Louise Pomeroy) with her red velvet evening gown. Step into the making of a Sargent portrait and consider ideas of curating—and controlling—one’s image.
“Unapologetically gorgeous”
–Boston Globe
“You can take Sargent out of fashion, but you cannot take the fashion out of Sargent.”
–Vogue
- Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (Gallery LG31)
John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892
John Singer Sargent, Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), 1883–1884
John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel, 1903
John Templeman Coolidge, John Singer Sargent painting Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and her daughter Rachel in the Gothic Room, 1903
John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Charles E. Inches (Louise Pomeroy), 1887
Unidentified maker, evening dress, American, about 1887–1902
John Singer Sargent, Lady Helen Vincent, Vicountess d’Abernon, 1904
John Singer Sargent, Lord Ribblesdale, 1902
John Singer Sargent, La Carmencita, about 1890
Unidentified maker, costume for Carmen Dauset Moreno (Carmencita), about 1890
John Singer Sargent, Dr. Pozzi at Home, 1881
John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889
“Beetle Wing Dress” for Lady Macbeth, designed by Alice Laura Comyns Carr and Ada Cort Nettleship, 1888
John Singer Sargent, John D. Rockefeller, 1917
John Singer Sargent, Madame Ramón Subercaseaux, 1880–81
John Singer Sargent, Elsie Palmer, 1889–90
Sponsors
Additional generous support from Tom and Bonnie Rosse. Supported by Lynn Dale and Frank Wisneski, the Barbara M. Eagle Exhibition Fund, the MFA Associates / MFA Senior Associates Exhibition Endowment Fund, the Dr. Lawrence H. and Roberta Cohn Fund for Exhibitions, and the Alexander M. Levine and Dr. Rosemarie D. Bria-Levine Exhibition Fund.