When I first saw the painting Lady Agnew of Lochnaw in my art history book I was hooked on John Singer Sargent but I didn’t know the significance this painting would have on me until I researched more. The painting was fairly small in my textbook and wouldn’t appear on our exam or in a big lecture but to me it became everything. I pulled images from different books in the library and compared different reproductions, to get a sense of the color (which is never quite reproduced the same way.)
At the end of the semester, I didn’t sell my textbook like most of my classmates because the reproduction of Lady Agnew was better than anything you could see online. My interest in Lady Agnew went deeper than my interest in color, brushstrokes, and composition. Much of what I’ve read about Lady Agnew is conflicting but one thing every historian agrees on - Lady Agnew was sick, throughout her life and in this portrait.
Her husband's diaries note malaise, long hospitalizations, carriage ride ambulances, and days recuperating in bed. Lady Agnew sat for Sargent over six sessions to complete the portrait. At that time, historians say she was sick with influenza, her doctor was present and she had to take many breaks. Despite her illness, she looks undoubtedly beautiful. Was this the way Sargent painted her? Or was this a reflection of life with an “invisible illness” as we call it today, an auto-immune disease before we had much of an understanding? The extensiveness of her illness and death point to this possibility.
I found out the painting lived in Scotland (a place I was sure I’d never visit.) You see, traveling with my own illness has proven tumultuous over the years. On occasions, I’ve ended up hospitalized in a foreign country or returned home in worse shape than when I started… and this was well before 2020. Needless to say, I don’t travel much and I quickly accepted this painting would be one I’d never see.
That’s until the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston announced: “Fashion By Sargent”. … and Lady Agnew would be there - a truly rare occasion.
When I bought the tickets to see Fashion By Sargent, I was a week out from surgery, but I pulled the trigger anyway and shot my hopes to the sky. We had some flight credit due to a previous trip that had to be canceled because of my health so we had little to lose!
I made it to meet Gertrude…. incredibly surreal. Because my illness is so concealed, I often feel isolated, like I’m living a double life. Next to Gertrude, interpreted by Sargent, together she and I stand, with grace and illness.
I was amazed how many people were there to see the show. It was loud with excitement for Sargent’s work! I struggled to stand throughout the show, I could tell that the Crohn’s complication I was dealing with was getting worse quickly and a fever was brewing. My doctor called in an emergency script of antibiotics when we got back to the hotel. My illness became much more visible as I vomited on the plane ride home and I was deemed a “biohazard.” Horrified, the person next to us was moved to a new seat…
I thought of Gertrude vomiting in front of John Singer Sargent. I thought of her hiding her symptoms at one of her big lavish parties at the Lochnaw Castle - the place she refurbished with her extensive skills for decorating and remodeling. I “cheers” to Gertrude with seltzer water.
An unexpected highlight of our trip was staying at the VERB. When we arrived at our hotel, our wonderful host upgraded us unexpectedly to stay in an airstream stream fit for a rock star. As some of you know, Evan and I planned to buy an airstream last Spring and take to the road but with my illness, plans fell through… but here we got to live a bit of that dream …Another God wink.
Some more pictures from the show…
Many of the textiles were on display themselves, like this bird hat below, and silk top hat above.
Sargent was a master of hands…
It was fascinating to see the dresses and compare the colors. Here I noticed for the highlights, rather than painting them on top, (wet into wet we artists say) like Sargent usually might, he allowed the canvas to show through and created the effect of the highlights that look just like the velvet this dress was made of.
Compared to these highlights below, which are assumed to be painted alla prima style and took on a lovely blue hue in person.
The painting of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth was a show-stopper. I especially enjoyed the note about Ellen who felt she wasn’t accomplished enough to be worthy of being painted by Sargent and wanted to postpone her painting. Artists!
Can you tell it was Evan’s favorite?
I was always taught to utilize perspective when I can, like, using eclipses, bracelets or stripes to describe the form. I would have been keen to capture those stripes on the dress’s sleeve. Not Sargent. Guess some masters don’t need the tricks!
No one ever told me Taylor Swift modeled for Sargent!?
Just kidding, but you do see the resemblance, don’t you? His niece modeled for each figure here, which I admire because I also use the same models over and over as I have access to - like many commercial artists do.
As always, thanks for reading about glimmers. Have a wonderful Christmas and whatever you are dreaming of doing, I hope you don’t write it off just yet…
