I would have paid to have you been my tour guide! I just finished the WRONG KIND of WOMAN and hope the Sargent Siblings is published. You are a wonderful writer and, I suspect, tour guide.
How interesting! I should def go see that exhibit...my time is running out. I love the backstories about how books get published, and while your first one about the Sargent's didn't sell, the next one did (isn't that so often the case? I have one of those!) And you do have SO much knowledge about the Sargent's (btw, I loved the title Also Emily, His Sister - brilliant!)...maybe you are not done with them yet...
Thank you, Amy, yes, go if you can! You have to have a timed ticket, FYI. (Buy in advance.) I like the backstories about books/publishing too, and agree--seems to be the case that with a lot of authors the first one published isn't the first one with the agent. (And of course that doesn't include all the novels in the drawer...)
Hey Sarah, I’m coming late to this Sargent party. But, now I’m here I dig your piece.
Are you still considering serialising it here? Or, now that more than a year has passed since it was mooted as a notion, maybe the moment has passed. I think it would be cool.
Love this post Sarah, and I can't wait to see the Singer Sargent exhibition when it comes to London. I want to write something about his 1915 portrait of Francis Jenkinson, Cambridge University Librarian, which is so intriguing too.
Thanks, Paige! Yes, yay for quiet novels! And right, not all writing gets published, but all of it leads somewhere. And who knows, maybe I'll return to this novel one of these days!
I love Sargent and when your book is published, I definitely want to read it. His portraits capture the essence of the person and it’s better than a photo in my opinion. Was he close with Elizabeth Stewart Gardner? I have a book of his works and love the Lily garden. His works are instantly recognizable and I appreciate your write up of the show at the MFA. I almost forgot about it . Thank you . Love all your posts!!!
Thank you, Cathy! And I agree about his portraits. And he was also wonderful at capturing a sense of momentariness, like the person just sat down or was about to get up and walk across the room. He was close with Gardner; Henry James introduced them and he stayed at her house (now the museum) when he was in Boston and painted some of his American portraits there. Yes, see the show if you have time!
Sarah-what a fabulous essay. I love knowing these cool details about the Sargent siblings and, especially, their connection to your own writing journey. One does not learn to write a beautiful novel like the WRONG KIND OF WOMAN through a weekend creative writing class! You are amazing. Thank you for sharing these insights.
Thank you, Emilie, that makes my day! Visiting with the Sargents again has reminded me how much of my writing heart belongs to historical fiction. (If only I can find the right subject and then do it justice!)
I had no idea what an amazing and complicated life Sargent had! Thanks so much for this illuminating piece. I have adored his portraits forever. Since you were there with your daughter, I'm reminded of my favorite Sargent:
I saw this painting when I was visiting Boston for the first time (Cambridge, as I'd accompanied a friend who was checking out MIT, which he would eventually attend), back when I was a senior in high school. I fell in love with it then, and I still love it. I see they have loaned it out to the Tate -- due back on July 7th. Next time I'm in the area, I'm totally going to see it again. :) FYI, there's a great story about the creation of this painting here:
Thank you! And I love that portrait too (Mrs. Warren and daughter), for its moodiness and so much else, and I took a bunch of photos of the loose brushwork on the dress the last time I saw it, at that big portrait show. I wanted to say more about it in this post, but you can see that the post was getting too long. And thanks for the Gardner piece--I wonder what the photographer (who could have been Isabella Gardner) or other observer said to Sargent and the mom and daughter to make them smile.
I love seeing the original people because I've always heard that the painters "upgraded" their subject's attractiveness (super old school Photoshop, if you really think about it). I've always wondered what George Washington (and everyone in history) looked like in real life...
Last month I was at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, and saw this painting in the photo:
And I texted to my wife, "I think the painter did the best he could." (No disrespect to the memory of Mr. Danton -- he was a huge figure in the French Revolution, but he did get his head chopped off, eventually, like many others.)
Seconding the serialising now that I’ve made it over here to read the piece ... but I wanted to read it on the name of Sargent alone ... was there no more comment than “too quiet”?
So many things here I never knew. Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge. I would love to read your novel. I spent many hours at the MFA in the early 70s, taking the bus from NH. It was my dream school but I was discouraged by my parents who worried about the ability to "make a living" in art. They weren't wrong and I wasn't headstrong enough to make it happen. I wish I could see this exhibit but now on the west coast, it won't happen this go around.
Thank you, Debra--I appreciate that! If you haven’t been back to the MFA in a while, you’d be amazed at how they’ve expanded and reorganized their American wing, and given Sargent pride of place. The show is going on to the Tate in London this spring, though that’s even farther from the West Coast.
I loved this too-- so many great details but also the overarching frame about similarity and difference-- between books or siblings or art-making. I hope you return to the Emily book too! Maybe as a biography? There's lots of precedent for surprising and successful books like that about lesser-known siblings (usually female, of course)-- like Jill Lepore's on Jane Franklin. Or the classic on Alice James, who would be relevant here. You've got a lot of readers clamoring for it!
Thank you, Victoria! My undergrad background is in history and art history, so maybe a biography? Or if I ever returned to the novel, I’d take a different approach, like keep it to a one-year timeframe, something like that. Look forward to reading your posts about your dad and his art!
I dragged my family from the Midwest to Washington, D.C. in 1999 to see the Sargent exhibit at the National Gallery. (Did all the Mall museums, White House, memorials, National Archives etc. and drove my kids completely nuts but they survived). I brought home two posters and had them expensively framed. Repose is at home above the loveseat in my den; the Boit sisters are at the foot of my staircase.
Really wanted to see the Boston exhibit but not a good time for it.
Thanks for this story! So exciting to learn about Emily. I hope your “quiet” book will slip out of hiding and speak freely.
Thank you, Mary! I wanted to include the Boot daughters in this post, but it was starting to meander. And thanks, who knows, maybe I’ll go back to the novel one of these days and rework it.
Ah, thank you so much! I’ve been thinking about how I might return to it. I’m not sure I have the scholarly background to write a biography, but interestingly, there’s no recent bio of Sargent (and definitely not of Emily), only books about the art, and books like Sargent’s Women, which are partly about other people.
I would have paid to have you been my tour guide! I just finished the WRONG KIND of WOMAN and hope the Sargent Siblings is published. You are a wonderful writer and, I suspect, tour guide.
Ah, thank you, Janie! That means a lot! Incidentally, my mom was a longtime museum docent and arts educator, so maybe I'm destined to do that too!
I LOVE quiet books and so do many people. So frustrating. I loved this post.
Thank you, Alice! And I love quiet novels too (not that I think of them as quiet, I just think of them as novels). It is frustrating.
How interesting! I should def go see that exhibit...my time is running out. I love the backstories about how books get published, and while your first one about the Sargent's didn't sell, the next one did (isn't that so often the case? I have one of those!) And you do have SO much knowledge about the Sargent's (btw, I loved the title Also Emily, His Sister - brilliant!)...maybe you are not done with them yet...
I agree - I want that novel!!! :)
💕✍️ Well who knows? Maybe I'll go back to it one of these days!
Thank you, Amy, yes, go if you can! You have to have a timed ticket, FYI. (Buy in advance.) I like the backstories about books/publishing too, and agree--seems to be the case that with a lot of authors the first one published isn't the first one with the agent. (And of course that doesn't include all the novels in the drawer...)
Maybe you should consider serializing the Sargent novel here on Substack. I love a quiet book.
I love a quiet book too! Some of my favorite novels probably qualify as quiet. Maybe I could serialize it, that is something to think about.
Perhaps you would find enough readers to make a publisher interested.
Hey Sarah, I’m coming late to this Sargent party. But, now I’m here I dig your piece.
Are you still considering serialising it here? Or, now that more than a year has passed since it was mooted as a notion, maybe the moment has passed. I think it would be cool.
Great post, and your Sargent novel gets a vote from me. I’m so tired of the hook mentality. Quiet books deserve room on our shelves.
Thank you, Cheryl! I agree about quiet books--they deserve a place!
Love this post Sarah, and I can't wait to see the Singer Sargent exhibition when it comes to London. I want to write something about his 1915 portrait of Francis Jenkinson, Cambridge University Librarian, which is so intriguing too.
Thank you, Ann! I hope you’ll write about the librarian! I assume it was a charcoal sketch? He did a lot of those after he swore off portraits.
Love this perspective and the knowledge that all that writing was worthwhile. I hope it is someday published. Yay for quiet novels.
Thanks, Paige! Yes, yay for quiet novels! And right, not all writing gets published, but all of it leads somewhere. And who knows, maybe I'll return to this novel one of these days!
I love Sargent and when your book is published, I definitely want to read it. His portraits capture the essence of the person and it’s better than a photo in my opinion. Was he close with Elizabeth Stewart Gardner? I have a book of his works and love the Lily garden. His works are instantly recognizable and I appreciate your write up of the show at the MFA. I almost forgot about it . Thank you . Love all your posts!!!
Your fan, Cathy Yi
Thank you, Cathy! And I agree about his portraits. And he was also wonderful at capturing a sense of momentariness, like the person just sat down or was about to get up and walk across the room. He was close with Gardner; Henry James introduced them and he stayed at her house (now the museum) when he was in Boston and painted some of his American portraits there. Yes, see the show if you have time!
Sarah-what a fabulous essay. I love knowing these cool details about the Sargent siblings and, especially, their connection to your own writing journey. One does not learn to write a beautiful novel like the WRONG KIND OF WOMAN through a weekend creative writing class! You are amazing. Thank you for sharing these insights.
Thank you, Emilie, that makes my day! Visiting with the Sargents again has reminded me how much of my writing heart belongs to historical fiction. (If only I can find the right subject and then do it justice!)
I would love to read historical fiction about the Sargents. Wonderful essay, thanks!
Thank you, Jackie! Maybe I’ll return to this novel one of these days! It’s definitely something I would read if someone else wrote it!
I had no idea what an amazing and complicated life Sargent had! Thanks so much for this illuminating piece. I have adored his portraits forever. Since you were there with your daughter, I'm reminded of my favorite Sargent:
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/33862/mrs-fiske-warren-gretchen-osgood-and-her-daughter-rachel
I saw this painting when I was visiting Boston for the first time (Cambridge, as I'd accompanied a friend who was checking out MIT, which he would eventually attend), back when I was a senior in high school. I fell in love with it then, and I still love it. I see they have loaned it out to the Tate -- due back on July 7th. Next time I'm in the area, I'm totally going to see it again. :) FYI, there's a great story about the creation of this painting here:
https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/whos-laughing-gothic-room
So cool that you actually get to see the actual mom and daughter through the black and white photograph!
Thank you! And I love that portrait too (Mrs. Warren and daughter), for its moodiness and so much else, and I took a bunch of photos of the loose brushwork on the dress the last time I saw it, at that big portrait show. I wanted to say more about it in this post, but you can see that the post was getting too long. And thanks for the Gardner piece--I wonder what the photographer (who could have been Isabella Gardner) or other observer said to Sargent and the mom and daughter to make them smile.
I love seeing the original people because I've always heard that the painters "upgraded" their subject's attractiveness (super old school Photoshop, if you really think about it). I've always wondered what George Washington (and everyone in history) looked like in real life...
Last month I was at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, and saw this painting in the photo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Danton
And I texted to my wife, "I think the painter did the best he could." (No disrespect to the memory of Mr. Danton -- he was a huge figure in the French Revolution, but he did get his head chopped off, eventually, like many others.)
Seconding the serialising now that I’ve made it over here to read the piece ... but I wanted to read it on the name of Sargent alone ... was there no more comment than “too quiet”?
Thank you! And there were plenty of comments from editors, but the one that came up the most was the too-quiet comment.
"Too quiet"--ugh! Been there. But loved your exploration here of the Sargents, their work, and portraiture over all.
Thank you! Yes, I think a lot of us have heard the dreaded "too quiet" from an editor or agent, sigh.
So many things here I never knew. Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge. I would love to read your novel. I spent many hours at the MFA in the early 70s, taking the bus from NH. It was my dream school but I was discouraged by my parents who worried about the ability to "make a living" in art. They weren't wrong and I wasn't headstrong enough to make it happen. I wish I could see this exhibit but now on the west coast, it won't happen this go around.
PS Forgot to mention that I wrote more about John and Emily in another post, for what it's worth. https://open.substack.com/pub/wrongkindofwoman/p/sargent-part-2?r=1nwxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
On my list of reads this morning, too. Thank you!
Thank you, Debra--I appreciate that! If you haven’t been back to the MFA in a while, you’d be amazed at how they’ve expanded and reorganized their American wing, and given Sargent pride of place. The show is going on to the Tate in London this spring, though that’s even farther from the West Coast.
I loved this too-- so many great details but also the overarching frame about similarity and difference-- between books or siblings or art-making. I hope you return to the Emily book too! Maybe as a biography? There's lots of precedent for surprising and successful books like that about lesser-known siblings (usually female, of course)-- like Jill Lepore's on Jane Franklin. Or the classic on Alice James, who would be relevant here. You've got a lot of readers clamoring for it!
Thank you, Victoria! My undergrad background is in history and art history, so maybe a biography? Or if I ever returned to the novel, I’d take a different approach, like keep it to a one-year timeframe, something like that. Look forward to reading your posts about your dad and his art!
I dragged my family from the Midwest to Washington, D.C. in 1999 to see the Sargent exhibit at the National Gallery. (Did all the Mall museums, White House, memorials, National Archives etc. and drove my kids completely nuts but they survived). I brought home two posters and had them expensively framed. Repose is at home above the loveseat in my den; the Boit sisters are at the foot of my staircase.
Really wanted to see the Boston exhibit but not a good time for it.
Thanks for this story! So exciting to learn about Emily. I hope your “quiet” book will slip out of hiding and speak freely.
Thank you, Mary! I wanted to include the Boot daughters in this post, but it was starting to meander. And thanks, who knows, maybe I’ll go back to the novel one of these days and rework it.
I love this post and want to read a version of that unsold novel!! I hope you will come back to it! Can you revise it as a biography???
Ah, thank you so much! I’ve been thinking about how I might return to it. I’m not sure I have the scholarly background to write a biography, but interestingly, there’s no recent bio of Sargent (and definitely not of Emily), only books about the art, and books like Sargent’s Women, which are partly about other people.