John Singer Sargent
Portrait of Mrs. Edward L. Davis and Her Son, Livingston Davis1890

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Oil painting, full-length portrait of a woman in a black Victorian dress with white ruffled jabot standing beside a young boy in a white sailor suit and wide-brimmed hat

Artist or Maker: John Singer Sargent
Italy, active United States, England, France, Italy, 1856-1925
Title: Portrait of Mrs. Edward L. Davis and Her Son, Livingston Davis
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1890
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 86 1/8 × 48 1/4 in. (218.76 × 122.56 cm) Framed: 103 1/2 × 65 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (262.89 × 166.37 × 8.89 cm)
Credit Line: Frances and Armand Hammer Purchase Fund
Accession Number: M.69.18
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: American Art
Curatorial Notes: In 1889, after establishing his reputation as a premier portrait painter in Paris and London, John Singer Sargent returned to the United States. He was immediately inundated with commissions from wealthy patrons, including for this portrait of Maria Robbins Davis and her son, who posed for the artist in their carriage house in Worcester, Massachusetts. Sargent omitted any indication of the setting, instead focusing his virtuoso brush on their intimate embrace and fashionable black and white ensembles.
Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. Edward Livingston Davis, Worcester, Mass., 1890-1916 § Mrs. A. Winsor Weld (by descent), Boston, 1918 § Mr. and Mrs. Livingston Davis (by descent), Boston, 1919-32 § Mrs. Livingston Davis (by descent), 1932-1969 (sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Eighteenth- to Twentieth-Century American Paintings, 1969, no. 74) § With Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1969 § With James Graham & Sons, New York, 1969.
Commissioned 1890 by Edward Livingston Davis (1834–1912) and Maria Robbins Davis (1843–1916), Worcester, Massachusetts, by descent 1916 to their daughter; Mrs. Alfred Winsor Weld (née Theresa A. Davis) (1873–1968), Boston, gifted to brother (?) 1918 to; Mr. Livingston Davis (1882–1932) and Alice Davis (née Gardiner, 1885–1963), Boston, by descent 1932 to; Mrs. Livingston Davis (sale, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, “Eighteenth- to Twentieth-Century American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture,” 19–20 March 1969, lot 74). [Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1969]. [James Graham & Sons, New York, sold 1969 to]; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Quick, Michael et. al. American Portraiture in the Grand Manner: 1720-1920. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Price, Lorna. Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.
Fort, Ilene Susan and Michael Quick. American Art: a Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.
The Armand Hammer Collection: October 2-December 30, 1969. Memphis: Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, 1969.
AA Publishing. Spiral Los Angeles. Berkshire, UK: Automobile Association Developments Limited, 2003.
Kilmurray, Elaine and Ormond, Richard. John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s (Complete Paintings: Volume II). London: Yale University Press, 2002.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Ferrara Arte. Sargent e l'Italia. Ferrara: Ferrara Arte, 2002.
LACMA: Obras Maestras 1750-1950: Pintura Estadounidense Del Museo De Arte Del Condado De Los Angeles. Mexico, D.F.: Museo Nacional de Arte, 2006.
American Paintings from the Armand Hammer Collection: an Inaugural Celebration. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1985.
Miller, Angela, and Chris McAuliffe, eds. America: Painting a Nation. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2013.
Redford, Bruce. John Singer Sargent and the Art of Allusion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.
Madsen, Annelise K. John Singer Sargent & Chicago's Gilded Age. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2018.
Hirshler, Erica E. Fashioned by Sargent. Boston: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2023.

Related Unframed

John Singer Sargent
Portrait of Mrs. Edward L. Davis and Her Son, Livingston Davis1890

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: John Singer Sargent
Italy, active United States, England, France, Italy, 1856-1925
Title: Portrait of Mrs. Edward L. Davis and Her Son, Livingston Davis
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1890
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 86 1/8 × 48 1/4 in. (218.76 × 122.56 cm) Framed: 103 1/2 × 65 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (262.89 × 166.37 × 8.89 cm)
Credit Line: Frances and Armand Hammer Purchase Fund
Accession Number: M.69.18
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: American Art
Curatorial Notes: In 1889, after establishing his reputation as a premier portrait painter in Paris and London, John Singer Sargent returned to the United States. He was immediately inundated with commissions from wealthy patrons, including for this portrait of Maria Robbins Davis and her son, who posed for the artist in their carriage house in Worcester, Massachusetts. Sargent omitted any indication of the setting, instead focusing his virtuoso brush on their intimate embrace and fashionable black and white ensembles.
Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. Edward Livingston Davis, Worcester, Mass., 1890-1916 § Mrs. A. Winsor Weld (by descent), Boston, 1918 § Mr. and Mrs. Livingston Davis (by descent), Boston, 1919-32 § Mrs. Livingston Davis (by descent), 1932-1969 (sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Eighteenth- to Twentieth-Century American Paintings, 1969, no. 74) § With Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1969 § With James Graham & Sons, New York, 1969.
Commissioned 1890 by Edward Livingston Davis (1834–1912) and Maria Robbins Davis (1843–1916), Worcester, Massachusetts, by descent 1916 to their daughter; Mrs. Alfred Winsor Weld (née Theresa A. Davis) (1873–1968), Boston, gifted to brother (?) 1918 to; Mr. Livingston Davis (1882–1932) and Alice Davis (née Gardiner, 1885–1963), Boston, by descent 1932 to; Mrs. Livingston Davis (sale, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, “Eighteenth- to Twentieth-Century American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture,” 19–20 March 1969, lot 74). [Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1969]. [James Graham & Sons, New York, sold 1969 to]; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Quick, Michael et. al. American Portraiture in the Grand Manner: 1720-1920. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Price, Lorna. Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.
Fort, Ilene Susan and Michael Quick. American Art: a Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.
The Armand Hammer Collection: October 2-December 30, 1969. Memphis: Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, 1969.
AA Publishing. Spiral Los Angeles. Berkshire, UK: Automobile Association Developments Limited, 2003.
Kilmurray, Elaine and Ormond, Richard. John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s (Complete Paintings: Volume II). London: Yale University Press, 2002.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Ferrara Arte. Sargent e l'Italia. Ferrara: Ferrara Arte, 2002.
LACMA: Obras Maestras 1750-1950: Pintura Estadounidense Del Museo De Arte Del Condado De Los Angeles. Mexico, D.F.: Museo Nacional de Arte, 2006.
American Paintings from the Armand Hammer Collection: an Inaugural Celebration. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1985.
Miller, Angela, and Chris McAuliffe, eds. America: Painting a Nation. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2013.
Redford, Bruce. John Singer Sargent and the Art of Allusion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.
Madsen, Annelise K. John Singer Sargent & Chicago's Gilded Age. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2018.
Hirshler, Erica E. Fashioned by Sargent. Boston: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2023.

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