Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler (Mrs. John Jay Chapman)

Object Details

Artist

John Singer Sargent, born Florence, Italy 1856-died London, England 1925

Sitter

Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler

Gallery Label

According to Sargent, twenty-six-year old Elizabeth Chanler had "the face of the Madonna and the eyes of a child." This portrait shows a beautiful, well-bred woman who has learned to be strong. When Elizabeth was still a girl, her mother died, leaving her to help care for seven younger brothers and sisters. Sargent painted her while she was in London for a brother's wedding, and the artist composed the portrait as if to suggest a turmoil of emotions in his sitter.

The top half of the portrait is ordered and still. Elizabeth's gaze is direct, her face centered between two paintings: a Madonna and Child and a figure of an old woman copied from Frans Hals. But the lower half is full of tension. Her arms, leg-of-mutton sleeves, and the pillows seem to wrestle with one another; only her clasped fingers and elbows keep everything under control. Perhaps the artist wished to show Elizabeth as a woman who, despite early hardships, was neither maiden nor matron. Sargent was often dismissed by his contemporaries as a "society portraitist," but his paintings always convey the human story behind the image.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Publication Label

John Singer Sargent painted twenty-six-year-old Elizabeth Chanler while she was in London for her brother's wedding. "Bessie" Chanler's determination and strength of character emerge forcefully in Sargent's remarkable portrait. The top half of the portrait is ordered and still. Chanler's gaze is direct, her face centered between two painting: a Madonna and Child and a figure of an old woman copied from Frans Hals. The lower half, however, is full of tension. Chanler's arms, leg-of-mutton sleeves, and the pillows seem to wrestle with one another; only her clasped fingers and elbows keep everything under control.

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chanler A. Chapman

1893

Object number

1980.71

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Painting

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

49 3/8 x 40 1/2 in. (125.4 x 102.9 cm.)

See more items in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department

Painting and Sculpture

On View

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, East Wing

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

Object\art object\painting

Architecture Interior\domestic\living room

Architecture Interior\domestic\house

Portrait female\waist length

Record ID

saam_1980.71

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7ff50c8f4-7c06-48e7-b2da-d9fdbd2e4a06