Judith Gautier

Throughout his career, the celebrated American painter John Singer Sargent created portraits of artists, writers, actors, and musicians, many of whom were his close friends. Because these works were rarely commissioned, he was free to create images that were more radical than those he created for paying clients. He often posed these sitters informally—in the act of painting, singing, or performing, for example. Together, the portraits constitute a group of experimental paintings and drawings—some of them highly charged, others sensual, and some of them intimate, witty, or idiosyncratic. Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 30, the exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends will bring together about 90 of these distinctive portraits. It will also explore in depth the friendships between Sargent and those who posed for him as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.

Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art today, June 30, the exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends will bring together about 90 of these distinctive portraits. It will also explore in depth the friendships between Sargent and those who posed for him as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.

Throughout his career, the celebrated American painter John Singer Sargent created portraits of artists, writers, actors, and musicians, many of whom were his close friends. Because these works were rarely commissioned, he was free to create images that were more radical than those he created for paying clients. He often posed these sitters informally—in the act of painting, singing, or performing, for example. Together, the portraits constitute a group of experimental paintings and drawings—some of them highly charged, others sensual, and some of them intimate, witty, or idiosyncratic. Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 30, the exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends will bring together about 90 of these distinctive portraits. It will also explore in depth the friendships between Sargent and those who posed for him as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.

Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 30, the exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends will bring together about 90 of these distinctive portraits. It will also explore in depth the friendships between Sargent and those who posed for him as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.