Study for Chiron and Achilles
primary
John Singer Sargent
(Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
model
Thomas McKeller
(Wilmington, North Carolina, 1890 - 1962, Boston)
Date1916-1921
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumCharcoal on paper
Dimensions48 x 63 cm (18 7/8 x 24 13/16 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS.G.Sar.4.1.7
eMuseum ID723411
EmbARK ObjectID18180
TMS Source ID6226
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.
Balanced on the centaur Chiron, the young Achilles draws back his bow to fire an arrow. Half man, half horse, Chiron—the adopted son of Apollo—mentored Greek hero Achilles in the arts of war and peace. Here, Sargent focuses on the twisting backs of each torso, eventually abandoning this approach for a frontal arrangement.
Balanced on the centaur Chiron, the young Achilles draws back his bow to fire an arrow. Half man, half horse, Chiron—the adopted son of Apollo—mentored Greek hero Achilles in the arts of war and peace. Here, Sargent focuses on the twisting backs of each torso, eventually abandoning this approach for a frontal arrangement.
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), pp. 222-23, ill. (as Study for Chiron and Achilles, about 1922)
Nathaniel Silver et al. Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2020), pp. 190-91, cat. 7. (as Study for Chiron and Achilles)
Nathaniel Silver, "Thomas Eugene McKeller, John Singer Sargent, and Isabella Stewart Gardner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 12 May 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/thomas-mckeller-john-singer-sargent-isabella-stewart-gardner
Alan Chong et al. (eds.). Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 222-23, ill. (as Study for Chiron and Achilles, about 1922)
Nathaniel Silver et al. Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2020), pp. 190-91, cat. 7. (as Study for Chiron and Achilles)
Nathaniel Silver, "Thomas Eugene McKeller, John Singer Sargent, and Isabella Stewart Gardner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 12 May 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/thomas-mckeller-john-singer-sargent-isabella-stewart-gardner
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.
