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Dame Ethel Mary Smyth
John Singer Sargent American
Not on view
Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), the daughter of a British major-general, took up music in the face of parental opposition, studied in Leipzig, and established herself as a composer of oratorios and concertos. Her best-known work is the opera The Wreckers (1906) with a libretto by her close friend Harry Brewster. Smyth was also a committed champion of women’s rights and played a prominent role in the suffrage movement.
In her autobiography, Smyth describes posing for this drawing while seated at the piano and singing. She recalled that Sargent implored her "to sing the most desperately exciting songs I knew." The resulting portrait, created in an hour and a half, suggests the concentration of her performance. Sargent’s rapid technique contrasts boldly drawn lines with atmospheric smudgy passages.
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