Clare McCaleb

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access (SIA Only)

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Historic Art and Design

First Advisor

Morgan Falconer

Second Advisor

Matthew Nichols

Abstract

This capstone, titled John Singer Sargent: Technique, The Muse and Patronage, explores the evolution of John Singer Sargent, the premier portrait artist in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century.  It highlights his artistic foundations as a largely home-schooled expatriate growing up in Europe and his early influences in Paris; it details his Phoenix-like rise from the ashes of the Parisienne art scene to wide acclaim for his unique portraiture techniques in London, setting the table for his return to the United States, where he became the toast of society driven largely by his friendships with new-money patrons around the turn of the century.  Indeed, this capstone examines and explains how and why Sargent commanded this respect and maintained the loyalty of his patrons.  Chapter One focuses on Sargent’s European upbringing and formal French training in the style of Parisienne figures.  It then contrasts the techniques on which he was trained with the American portraiture standards, trailblazers, and society of the late 1800s.  This sets the stage for Sargent’s entrée to United States society in the gilded age, focusing on how Sargent’s methods and techniques potentially filled gaps left by American artists of that era.   Chapter Two spotlights Sargent’s best-known work, Madame X, and the controversy it created in the Paris art scene, rendering Sargent persona non grata.  But, as life so often reminds us, when one door closes, another one opens, and that was true of Sargent.  In the wake of French rejection, his portraiture techniques were welcomed in London, leading to opportunities in America portraiture.  In the gilded age of America, United States patrons discovered Sargent through Madame X and the global elite societal circles, ultimately establishing him as the most sought-after portrait painter of his time. Indeed, Sargent did not just paint his subjects, he became close friends and confidantes of them, engendering a lifetime of well-heeled patrons.  The Capstone makes clear that, in the end, John Singer Sargent changed the course of American portraiture through the consistent loyalty of his patrons, stemming from the distinctive and flattering style in which he presented them.  In short, John Singer Sargent captured the hearts and loyalty of America’s elite through a portrait style grounded in Parisian techniques and culture, which the French ultimately rejected, but which English and American patrons embraced for its uniqueness and beauty.  Indeed, time and again, patrons—especially from the gilded-age societies of Boston and New York—returned to Sargent for portraits based on the friendships and relationships he built with them.  John Singer Sargent is the premier American portrait artist of his day.

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