Mrs. George Batten
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.In the 1890s, the beautiful and talented Mabel Batten (ca. 1857–1916) became a prominent patron of music and the arts, establishing a reputation as one of the foremost amateur mezzo-sopranos of her time. She played the piano and guitar and composed her own songs. In London in the late nineteenth century, concert halls were few and far between and musical evenings, at which amateur and professional musicians intermingled, were often held in private homes. It was at such an event that Sargent first heard Batten sing.
Impressed by her performance, Sargent convinced Batten to pose, recording her carried away in the ecstasy of her song, head thrown back, lips parted wide, bosom thrust forward. Sargent deliberately cropped out her arms, narrowing the composition, to accentuate the intensity of her expression.
Impressed by her performance, Sargent convinced Batten to pose, recording her carried away in the ecstasy of her song, head thrown back, lips parted wide, bosom thrust forward. Sargent deliberately cropped out her arms, narrowing the composition, to accentuate the intensity of her expression.
Artwork Details
- Title: Mrs. George Batten
- Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
- Date: 1897
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 35 × 17 in. (88.9 × 43.2 cm)
- Credit Line: Lent by Glasgow Life (Glasgow Museums) on behalf of Glasgow City Council. Presented by the Trustees of the Hamilton Bequest, 1929
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing