Edwin Booth
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Renowned Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth (1833–1893) founded the Players Club in New York as a meeting place for actors and other professions. He also carried the burden of being the brother of John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Lincoln in 1865. In 1889, the members commissioned Sargent to paint this portrait of their founder for the club.
Booth stands before the marble fireplace in the club’s great hall. The unusually wide format creates a stagelike space even though the actor is not shown in character. After the second sitting, Booth was disappointed with the likeness. When Sargent heard this, he painted out the head "and a new picture was begun." Sargent’s portrayal reveals Booth’s complexity: his expression seems tragic and haunted, while his pose conveys a masterful self-confidence.
Booth stands before the marble fireplace in the club’s great hall. The unusually wide format creates a stagelike space even though the actor is not shown in character. After the second sitting, Booth was disappointed with the likeness. When Sargent heard this, he painted out the head "and a new picture was begun." Sargent’s portrayal reveals Booth’s complexity: his expression seems tragic and haunted, while his pose conveys a masterful self-confidence.
Artwork Details
- Title: Edwin Booth
- Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
- Date: 1890
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 87 1/2 × 61 3/4 in. (222.3 × 156.8 cm)
Framed: 87 × 64 × 2 in. (221 × 162.6 × 5.1 cm) - Credit Line: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing