Mrs. Charles Hunter
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Exuberant and extravagant, Mary Hunter (1857–1933) became Sargent’s devoted friend and confidante in London. She was a generous hostess, famous for the parties she held at her country estate, Hill Hall, which she filled with notable artists, musicians, and writers. Sargent was a frequent guest and he introduced her to many of his creative friends. Her sister Ethel Smyth, whose charcoal portrait by Sargent also hangs in this gallery, described Hunter as always well-dressed and radiating "that sense of enjoying life to the utmost." Sargent portrays Hunter in a flamboyant pink chiffon cape and beribboned hat. She embodies self-confident grandeur and good nature as she peers out from beneath the brim of her hat with an enigmatic smile.
Artwork Details
- Title: Mrs. Charles Hunter
- Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
- Date: 1898
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 58 1/4 × 35 1/4 in. (148 × 89.5 cm)
Framed: 66 1/16 × 43 1/2 × 3 15/16 in. (167.8 × 110.5 × 10 cm) - Credit Line: Tate: Presented by Mrs Charles Hunter through the Art Fund 'in memory of a great artist and a great friend' 1929
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing