John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was born in Florence to American parents and lived most of his life in Europe. Considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation (Tate Gallery, 1998)," his clients included Henry James, Roosevelt, Rockefeller, and Lady Randolph Churchill. In later life, however, Sargent expressed ambivalence about formal portrait work, and devoted much effort to mural painting and working en plein air