On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Vernon Lee
John Singer Sargent American
Not on view
At the top of the canvas, Sargent wrote an inscription in the wet paint to "Violet" Paget (1856–1935), but his childhood friend was better known by her pen name Vernon Lee. A woman of letters and a noted feminist and pacifist, Lee’s brilliance and intellectual reach were formidable. An authority on the Italian Renaissance, she published a wide range of work, including supernatural fiction, studies on aesthetics and psychology, literary criticism, novels, and plays.
Lee’s pseudonym and her way of dressing encouraged a sense of ambiguity about her sexual identity. Sargent depicts her in the tailored black attire and high starched collar that she favored. He painted this sketch in a single three-hour sitting during a visit to London. Lee described the spontaneous quality of the picture as "mere dabs and blurs."
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
