Biographies

John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925) He was born in Florence, to American parents and traveled extensively throughout Europe. His parents never settled back in America, and he did not set foot in the States himself until right before his 21st birthday to retain his citizenship. He was schooled as a French artist, heavily influenced by the Impressionist movement, the Spanish Master , the Dutch Master and his teacher Carolus-Duran . He was the darling of Paris until the scandal of his Madame X painting at the 1884 Salon. His output was prodigious. Working dawn til dusk in some cases — even on vacations, and sometimes seven days a week. Between 1877 (when his work really started taking off) and 1925, he did over 900 oils and more than 2,000 watercolors along with countless charcoal sketch-portraits and endless pencil drawings. Velazquez Frans Hals,