About this artwork
Portrayed here is Violet Sargent, the sister of the painter John Singer Sargent. Augustus Saint-Gaudens produced this bronze relief in exchange for a portrait of his wife and son by Sargent. Clothed in contemporary dress and playing a guitar, Violet projects charm, elegance, and sophistication—similar to a sitter in a Sargent portrait in oil. Musical instruments were often included in late 19th-century depictions of young upper-class women as a way of suggesting the leisure and refinement these women were expected to embody. The varying degrees of relief and the harmonious lines of this work attest to Saint-Gaudens’s technical prowess and his sensitivity to the medium of bronze.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 161
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Sculptor)
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Title
- Violet Sargent
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Place
- New Hampshire (Place depicted)
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Date
- Modeled 1890
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Medium
- Bronze
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Inscriptions
- Inscribed in wreath upper right: "Violet Sargent" Signed on bench:"A ST G / MDCCCLXXXX / FECIT"
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Dimensions
- 127 × 87 cm (50 × 34 1/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Brooks McCormick
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Reference Number
- 1976.685
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/93510/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
