John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was the most famous and fashionable portrait painter of his day. Born in Florence, the son of a Philadelphia doctor, he settled in London in 1885 and enjoyed an international reputation.
This beautiful drawing exemplifies Sargent’s confident draughtsmanship, his marks are full of energy and are made both with charcoal, and with the eraser.
The sitter, Lady Helen Vincent (1866-1954) was born Lady Helen Duncombe, daughter of the first Earl of Feversham of Duncombe Park, Yorkshire. In 1890 she married Edgar Vincent, later Viscount d’Abernon, and together they formed an important art collection.
During the First World War she trained as an anaesthetist treating 13,000 patients, all of whom survived the anaesthetic.
YORAG R2516 – Info by Jackie & Jenny
in her interesting book (extracts from her diaries in fact): “Red Cross and Berlin Embassy”, Helen D’Abernon states that she “induced 1137 anaesthesias”and “did not lose a single patient”. She was not paid for this service; she was blocked from taking a further appointment by Sir Arthur Stanley,supported by Sir Arthur Lawley And Sir Alfred Keogh.
jane sparham April 17th, 2009 at 1:57 pm