Robert Louis Stevenson
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This is the third of Sargent’s portraits of Stevenson (1850–1894). Like the double portrait nearby, it was painted in Stevenson’s home in Bournemouth, England. Unlike in the previous portrait, Stevenson, who was in frail health at the time, is still and centered within the confines of the vertical canvas. He is anchored in the stable wicker chair, though his lankiness remains evident in his long, crossed legs, which extend to the edge of the frame. Amid this stillness, Sargent painted the lush carpet with energetic dabs. Boston banker Charles Fairchild commissioned the work as a gift for his wife, an ardent fan of the author.
Artwork Details
- Title: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
- Date: 1887
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 20 1/16 x 24 5/16 in. (51 x 61.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Bequest of Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing