SARGENT AT ARMS
1930s Ruby vase, $450; nydc.com/antiques. Charles X Urn tamp, $2,275, and Sari silk lampshade, $600; krbnyc.com. Hanson champagne flute, $175 for set of two; aerostudios .com. Colette red wineglass, white wineglass, and coupe, from $360, by Charlap Hyman & Herrero; modaoperandi.com. Starry Nights carafe (with glass), $300; williamwhite.com. Fabric: Blackjack by Métaphores; kravet.com; Damask Pierre; brunschwigfils.com; to the trade.
Every portrait by John Singer Sargent is a character study, conveyed in energetic and sensuous brushstrokes and incorporating the artist's masterful use of color, light, and shadow. But as an upcoming landmark exhibition of his early paintings, "Sargent in Paris" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 27-August 3), shows, his settings were as important as his sitters. Covering the 10 years he spent in the French capital starting when he was 18, the show also explores the artist's most experimental phase.
"This decade in Paris lays the groundwork for his professional career," says the show's curator, Stephanie Herdrich. "It's the foundation of his future success." The show will include Sargent's famous portrait of Madame Pierre Gautreau (Madame X to most), along with several preparatory sketches of that painting with her infamous dress strap off the shoulder, rather than on.
This story is from the March 2025 edition of Elle Decor US.
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This story is from the March 2025 edition of Elle Decor US.
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