Existing comment:
Bostonians
Although he lived abroad for most of his life, Sargent often returned to Boston, regarding that cultural and intellectual hub to be his American home. Close and lasting friendships exerted a magnetic attraction, and the city's institutions undoubtedly bolstered his career. Sargent's first solo exhibition was held at Boston's St. Botolph Club in 1888, and his three ambitious mural cycles, which he considered his greatest achievement, were carried out at the Boston Public Library (1890 –1919), the Museum of Fine Arts (1916 –25), and Harvard University's Widener Library (1921–22).
Following Sargent's death in 1925, the Museum of Fine Arts mounted a memorial exhibition of his work. It is likely that there was a related display of some seventy charcoal portraits borrowed from private collections. Indeed, through the years, Sargent created portraits of many of Boston's most prominent residents, initially in oil and later in charcoal. The portraits in this gallery represent a cross-section of the Bostonians drawn by Sargent over the course of twenty-five years. |