John Singer Sargent: The Wertheimer Portraits

"Ena and Betty, Daughters of Asher
Wertheimer" by J.S. Sargent

"On January 14, 1897, John Singer Sargent was elected an Academician by a large majority. In 1898 he began his series of Wertheimer portraits, and writing to Lady Lewis shortly afterwards he described himself as being in a state of 'chronic Wertheimerism.' Each picture as it left the studio served to whet afresh the appetite of the great art dealer. Indeed, Mr. Asher Wertheimer's only regret was that there were not more Wertheimers for Sargent to paint. There were no bounds to his admiration for the artist, or limits to his desire for the perpetuation of his family on canvas.

The series began appropriately enough with the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Asher Wertheimer which were exhibited in the Academy of 1898. It was the year of their silver wedding anniversary, and they were to be presented to the world in a form which would long outlive any anniversaries that they or many generations of their descendants were likely to celebrate. 

The portrait of Mrs. Asher Wertheimer bears an aspect of great dignity, of a serene and distinguished old age. Mr. Wertheimer's portrait makes us aware of success cynically enjoyed, of assessments as acute in the case of humanity as of works of art, of antipathies lived down by sheer astuteness, of triumphant pertinacity and of commercial secrecy. 

But no one picture of the Wertheimer series surpasses the portrait of the two sisters Miss Ena and Miss Betty. They are painted standing side by side. The elder and taller of the two, dressed in white satin, has her arm round the waist of her sister who, slighter and less tall, is in a gown of deep red velvet. The design is compact, balanced and rhythmic. In her right hand is an open fan of transparent material turned towards the spectator, and by this means Sargent has prolonged the lines and carried on the tones of the right arm. The open fan has given life and interest to this section of the canvas and, set off against the red dress, has helped to balance the distribution of dark and light in the picture. 

The iridescent ivory tints of the white dress, merging into the delicate blues and greys of the Chinese vase, the flesh tones, the background, and the beautifully painted hair of the two girls show a consummate mastery of colour. No stroke of the brush is without significance. Every accessory contributes to the harmonious unity of the group. There is no dull or unnecessary passage. This picture is one of the completest expressions of Sargent's art."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "John Sargent" by Evan Charteris.)