Portraits Around the World

The four daughters of the wealthy Bostonian artist Edward Darley Boit emerge from the shadows of their Paris apartment; the cosmopolitan family divided its time between Europe and America. At the time of the painting, Julia, the youngest, was four; Mary Louise, at the left, was eight; and Florence and Jane, who stand together at the back, were fourteen and twelve. The young artist John Singer Sargent, raised in Europe and trained in Paris, was a friend of the family and part of the same international social circle. Sargent made his artistic debut with this striking portrait, even more memorable for its psychological subtlety than for the dazzling brushwork and sense of elegance that would make Sargent the most fashionable portraitist of the Gilded Age, the last decades of the nineteenth century.

By cutting off the vase and the carpet at the right, Sargent brings us directly into the girls’ world, where we almost seem to have intruded upon their privacy. Sargent’s unconventional, asymmetrical arrangement of the four girls and the strong contrast of their white pinafores against the shadows emphasize each figure as an individual. With their direct but enigmatic expressions, Sargent’s young subjects suggest a variety of thoughts and speculations about childhood, life, and their privileged world.

The portrait of the Atwood family also represents a young painter’s first grand effort, but in an entirely different milieu. The seventeen-year-old Massachusetts artist Henry Darby was virtually self-taught. He spent the summer of 1845 in the home of a devout New Hampshire minister’s family, creating a detailed portrait that captured many nuances of their world. The large family is depicted at their daily Bible study. On the wall hang an Old Testament print and a picture memorializing a deceased son. Darby has also carefully rendered the lamp, carpet, wallpaper, and other parlor furnishings, identifying this as a family of some means. The artist’s delight in color, pattern, and detail give the painting a clarity and directness that heighten our sense of its truthfulness as a portrait.

These were both families who possessed objects and furnishings that they prized—what does each setting reveal about the interests and values of each family? What might each family think of the other’s home?

Do the attitudes of the Boit daughters seem typical for their respective ages? What is it about their poses and expressions that gives you your impression? What about the Atwood children?

How might the Sargent portrait be different if the parents were present?

Which family group would you like to visit? Imagine conversations you might have with different family members—what might you talk about? How would they respond?

(left) (right)