Portrait of Mrs. Daniel Sargent Curtis, John Singer Sargent

Exhibition Label:
"Corpus," Apr-2012, Kate Meyer
The aura of Venice incited the attentions of countless artists and writers in the 19th century, including American expatriate painter John Singer Sargent. When in Venice, Sargent frequented the Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal, an opulent palace owned by his distant relation Daniel Curtis and Daniel’s wife, Ariana. The Curtis home became a gathering place for Robert Browning, Henry James, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Edith Wharton, and other cultural luminaries in the 1880s.

In this portrait, Sargent paints Ariana Wormeley Curtis (1833-1922), his capable hostess. Curtis was the author of a play titled The Spirit of Seventy-Six, which satirizes the suffrage movement by postulating a future in which the women hold professional offices while the men tend to the children. Sargent poses Ariana against a restrained black background that accents the slight flush of her skin and her simple white adornments in an image that conveys his subject’s intelligence as well as her graciousness.

Archive Label:
The artist presented this portrait of Mrs. Curtis, a relative by marriage, to the Curtis family as a gift of appreciation for their generous hospitality. The inscription in the upper right, though unclear, seems to read “John S. Sargent to his kind friend Mr. Curtis.” Sargent enjoyed yearly visits to the palatial Curtis residence in Venice, Italy.
Mrs. Curtis, who was forty-nine at the time of the sitting, is portrayed not in the opulent surroundings of her home but against a simple black background, in a black dress, and black mantle, the only strong contrast being a white collar inset, two strings of pearls and the white lace covering her hair. This restrained use of color not only emphasizes the exceptional quality and liveliness of the flesh tones but also draws our attention to the way in which Sargent used the brush to differentiate between the blackness of the dress and the buttons on the dress, between the background and the blackness of the mantle. The result is an affectionate statement of a strong and commanding personality, and a flattering portrayal of one of the artist’s favorite hostesses.