Study for Three Dancing Figures
artist
John Singer Sargent
(Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
Date1916-1921
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumCharcoal on paper
Dimensions48.5 x 62.9 cm (19 1/8 x 24 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS.G.Sar.4.1.9
eMuseum ID723449
EmbARK ObjectID18178
TMS Source ID6224
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIn 1916, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) met Thomas Eugene McKeller (1890–1962), a young, Black elevator attendant, at Boston’s Hotel Vendome. McKeller posed for most of the figures—both male and female—in Sargent’s murals in the Museum of Fine Arts. The painter transformed McKeller into white gods and goddesses, creating soaring allegories of the liberal arts that celebrated the recent expansion of the city’s premier civic museum. Sargent then gave several preparatory drawings of McKeller to Isabella Stewart Gardner, ensuring their preservation in perpetuity.
Although McKeller modeled for many of the rotunda’s female figures, Sargent also made studies from female models. In this case, the artist sketches the legs and feet of Gladys or Lilian White for his relief of Three Dancing Figures.
Although McKeller modeled for many of the rotunda’s female figures, Sargent also made studies from female models. In this case, the artist sketches the legs and feet of Gladys or Lilian White for his relief of Three Dancing Figures.
BibliographyNotesRollin van N. Hadley (ed.). Drawings: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1968), p. 52.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 223.
Nathaniel Silver et al. Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2020), pp. 192-93, cat. 9. (as Study for Three Dancing Figures)
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 223.
Nathaniel Silver et al. Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2020), pp. 192-93, cat. 9. (as Study for Three Dancing Figures)
MarksNotesSigned in pencil (lower right): John S. Sargent
Watermark: L. BERVILLE (FRANCE) / Lalanne
Watermark: L. BERVILLE (FRANCE) / Lalanne
ProvenanceNotesProbably a gift from John Singer Sargent to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1921.
