LONDON 6

Fashion was central to John Singer Sargent’s (1856–1925) achievements as a portraitist. In a career which coincided with the rise of haute couture, Sargent painted portraits which embraced the creative potential of clothing and costume. In this exhibition, Sargent’s work is displayed alongside examples of period fashion, including several original garments depicted in his paintings.

An international artist, Sargent was born in Italy to North American parents. He lived in several European countries as a child, before forging his artistic reputation in Paris. In 1886 he settled in London, although he continued to travel widely, and worked extensively in the US. Sargent embodied the cosmopolitan values of 19th-century high society, to which many of his sitters belonged.

A Lady In White-Miss Elsie Palmer 1890

Madame X-1884

Study of Virginie Gautreau 1884

Details up close.

Dr Pozzi at Home- 1881

Carnation, Lily, Lilly, Rose-1886 This is on elf the first paintings Sergeant made after moving from Paris and it helped make his reputation.

Studies for the children.

Mrs Hugh Hammersley-1892

Dress by The House of Worth Paris 1880

Such gowns would cost 25,000 pounds in todays money.

Ena and Betty Daughters of Asher and Mrs Wertheimer- 1901

Flora Priestley1889

Ena Wertheimer: A Vele Gonfie (In Full Sail) -1904

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth

Above The actual garment.

Almina daughter of Asher and Flora Wertheimer 1908

La Carmencita-1890

Robert Louis Stevenson- 1885

Madame Ramon Subercaseux-1881

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw-1892

Repose- 1911

Cashmere 1908

The Pink Dress 1912

Group with Parasols 1905

The Chess Game 1907

Two Girls In White Dresses- 1911

The Countess of Rocksavage-1922

John S Sergeant by Max Beerbohm 1910

Gassed is a very large oil painting completed in March 1919 . It depicts the aftermath of a mustard gas attack during the First World War, with a line of wounded soldiers walking towards a dressing station. Sargent was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee to document the war. The painting was finished in March 1919 and voted picture of the year by the Royal Academy of Arts in 1919. It is now held by the Imperial War Museum.

Tate Britain- was known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery.

It houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner, who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation.