John Singer Sargent

Flora Priestley (the sitter)
(probably) the artist or Emily Sargent (the artist's sister)
Emily Sargent (the artist's sister), 1926
Mrs. Hugo Pitman (her niece)
By descent to the present owner

Boston, Massachusetts, Copley Hall, Paintings and Sketches by John S. Sargent, February-March 1899, no. 75, p. 18
London, England, Royal Academy, Exhibition of works by the Late John S. Sargent, R.A., January-March 1926, no. 410, p. 62 (as Lamplight Portrait)
London, National Gallery, Opening of Sargent Gallery, June-October 1926 (as Lamplight Portrait)
(possibly) Edinburgh, Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, One hundred and second Annual Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy, April-August 1928, no. 196 or no. 371
Birmingham, England, City Museum and Art Gallery, Exhibition of works by John Singer Sargent, R.A., 1856-1925, September-October 1964, no. 20
New York, Adelson Galleries, Sargent's Women, November-December 2003, no. 47 

William Howe Downes, John S. Sargent: His Life and Work, Boston, Massachusetts, 1925, p. 264
Evan Charteris, John Sargent, London, England, 1927, pp. 99, 284
Charles Merrill Mount, John Singer Sargent: A Biography, New York, 1955, no. 8920, p. 431; 1957 ed., p. 339; 1969 ed., p. 449
David McKibbin, Sargent's Boston, with an Essay & a Biographical Summary, Boston, Massachusetts, 1956, p. 117
Carter Ratcliff, John Singer Sargent, New York, 1982, n.p., illustrated pl. 170
Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, vol. I, New Haven, Connecticut, 1998, no. 227, pp. 228-229, 263, illustrated

The canvas is lined. There is stable scattered surface cracking, most visible in the lighter pigments. Under UV: there is inpainting to address cracking in her face and a few scattered spots above her head; there are also scattered retouches along the edges, most visible along the right edge and lower left corner.
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The present work depicts one of John Singer Sargent’s childhood friends, Flora Priestly, who served as the subject of four of his works during the late 1880s. Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray explain: “Sargent and Miss Priestley probably knew each other as children in Nice… There is no doubt that Sargent was attracted by her striking appearance and personality as well as her penchant for dressing up in unusual costumes, and she posed for a number of studies in the 1880s. There is said to have been a romance between the two. According to Mount, Sargent proposed to her several times while, according to Ormond family tradition, it was she rather than he who was in pursuit” (as quoted in Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, vol. 1, New Haven, Connecticut, 1998, p. 226,)

Also referred to as Lamplight Study, the present work illustrates Sargent’s interest in observing the effects of light and shadow against the forms of his subject’s face. Sargent’s use of dramatic chiaroscuro and vigorously applied, impressionistic brushstrokes exemplifies his expertise in capturing these fleeting light effects and presenting an unconventional perspective of the human face.