Medal of John Singer Sargent
medalist
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
(Dublin, 1848 - 1907, Cornish, New Hampshire)
Date1880
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumBronze
Dimensions6.1 cm (2 3/8 in.)
ClassificationsMedals and Medallions
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS27w14
eMuseum ID725012
EmbARK ObjectID12606
TMS Source ID1682
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIsabella Stewart Gardner greatly admired the work of American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who inscribed this portrait medal to “my friend Sargent” in 1880. Saint-Gaudens also included the words “brutto ritrato” (“crude portrait”) to describe his rendering. The sculptor gave the medal to Gardner in 1887.
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 249.
Susan West Day. "Two Medals by Saint-Gaudens." Fenway Court, vol. 2, no. 2 (Aug. 1968), pp. 9-16, ill. 12.
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston: 1977), p. 160, no. 202.
John Dryfhout. The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Hanover and London, 1982), p. 106, no. 86.
Emamanuelle Héran. Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1848-1907: Un maître de la sculpture américaine. Exh. cat. (Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, 1999), p. 159, no. 60.
Thayer Tolles. American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born before 1865 (New York, 1999), pp. 262-63, no. 114.
Tanya Karpiak. "The medallic secrets of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum." The Medal (Autumn 2014), pp. 17-19, fig. 7.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Commemorating Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 16 April 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/commemorating-robert-gould-shaw-54th-massachusetts-regiment
Susan West Day. "Two Medals by Saint-Gaudens." Fenway Court, vol. 2, no. 2 (Aug. 1968), pp. 9-16, ill. 12.
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston: 1977), p. 160, no. 202.
John Dryfhout. The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Hanover and London, 1982), p. 106, no. 86.
Emamanuelle Héran. Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1848-1907: Un maître de la sculpture américaine. Exh. cat. (Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, 1999), p. 159, no. 60.
Thayer Tolles. American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born before 1865 (New York, 1999), pp. 262-63, no. 114.
Tanya Karpiak. "The medallic secrets of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum." The Medal (Autumn 2014), pp. 17-19, fig. 7.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Commemorating Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 16 April 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/commemorating-robert-gould-shaw-54th-massachusetts-regiment
MarksNotesInscribed, signed and dated (obverse): MY FRIEND JOHN / SARGENT PARIS /IVLY M D C C C LXXX / FECE / A ST G (in monogram)/ BRUTTO / RITRATO
ProvenanceNotesGift from Augustus Saint-Gaudens to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 7 November 1887.
