John Singer Sargent, 1856 – 1925

John Singer Sargent was one of the most important American artists in the 19th and 20th centuries. Though he also painted and drew landscapes and genre paintings, his fame was earned through his astounding skill at portraiture. Born in Europe to American parents, Sargent lived mostly on the Continent, executing luxurious and glamorous portraits for his ultra-wealthy clientele. A portrait by Sargent was the ultimate status symbol at the turn of the 20th century.

Sargent spent most of the 1870s and 1880s in Paris. He studied under the great French artist, Carolus-Duran, before moving on to the École des Beaux-Arts where his talent was immediately recognized. In 1874, Sargent was confirmed at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris in the same class as Elisabeth Mills Reid, who would establish the American Girls' Art Club at 4 rue de Chevreuse twenty years later. Shortly after his confirmation, Sargent moved to his own studio in Montparnasse, located at 73 bis rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, sharing the space with fellow American James Carroll Beckwith, a renowned Naturalist painter. 

Sargent continued painting until his death in 1925, and he began producing charcoal sketches around 1907. The Reid Hall archives contain a photo of Sargent's 1912 charcoal portrait sketch of Elisabeth Mills Reid. The original sketch has yet to be located.