1880, John Singer Sargent, Madame Ramón Subercaseaux (Amalia Errazuriz y Urmeneta) (detail) -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: Impressed by Sargent's showing at the Paris Salon in 1880, Chilean expatriates Ramón and Amalia Subercaseaux commissioned a portrait of Amalia (1860-1930), and in the process became lasting friends with the artist. Sargent painted her at her piano--as if she has just paused her playing--in the couple's stylish apartment. The beguiling image of Subercaseaux in an elegant black-and-white gown is as much a display of the young couple's wealth and refinement as it is of Sargent's skill. The portrait helped establish his reputation as a portraitist of chic Parisiennes even as some viewers, including playwright Edouard Pailleron, whose portrait is shown nearby, balked because she was not French. Nevertheless, Sargent earned a second-class medal at the Salon that year, an honor that allowed him to bypass the judging process in the future.
1880, John Singer Sargent, Madame Ramón Subercaseaux (Amalia Errazuriz y Urmeneta) (detail) -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: Impressed by Sargent's showing at the Paris Salon in 1880, Chilean expatriates Ramón and Amalia Subercaseaux commissioned a portrait of Amalia (1860-1930), and in the process became lasting friends with the artist. Sargent painted her at her piano--as if she has just paused her playing--in the couple's stylish apartment. The beguiling image of Subercaseaux in an elegant black-and-white gown is as much a display of the young couple's wealth and refinement as it is of Sargent's skill. The portrait helped establish his reputation as a portraitist of chic Parisiennes even as some viewers, including playwright Edouard Pailleron, whose portrait is shown nearby, balked because she was not French. Nevertheless, Sargent earned a second-class medal at the Salon that year, an honor that allowed him to bypass the judging process in the future.