How the Fictional John Singer Sargent Portrait in The Gilded Age Compares to the Artist’s Real-Life Work
The curator of The Met’s "Sargent and Paris" exhibition weighs in on the show's portrayal and what she would've done differently
The third season of HBO’s The Gilded Age is in full swing, and one of its many affluent characters, Gladys Russell, has gotten the true Gilded Age treatment: a portrait painted by John Singer Sargent. Naturally, the Emmy Award-winning series takes creative license with certain plotlines, as it is not meant to be an entirely factual portrayal of this period; as such, the portrait is a fictional one, and some viewers have mused that it does not resemble a Sargent creation in the slightest.
Fortunately, art enthusiasts can currently view a plethora of Sargent’s actual works on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Sargent and Paris” exhibit, open through August 3. The curator of the exhibition, Stephanie Herdrich, who serves as the Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Painting and Drawing of the Met, spoke to Galerie about Gladys Russell’s infamous Sargent-inspired portrait, and how it strays from the real-life works of the American portraitist.
Herdrich, who has been a fan of The Gilded Age since its inaugural season, does not mind the historical inaccuracies in the series, as she adds that the show is well-researched and inventive. However, she agrees that the portrait of Gladys “does not look like something that Sargent would have painted in style and composition.”
The fictional Sargent portrait of Gladys Russell, which seems to be a photograph printed on canvas that was later accented with brushwork, lacks the celebrated artist’s liveliness or boldness, adds Herdrich.
“His portraits were admired for his ability to capture likeness, often praised as lively and flattering, as they pushed the boundaries of convention,” she explains. “Sargent was rarely literal or photographic—he made choices to compose his pictures and took artistic license. So, creating a gorgeous set and then taking a photograph of the actor in the set, in imitation of a painting by one of the greatest portraitists of the era, was a risky choice, in my opinion.”
While no one from The Gilded Age reached out to Herdrich for her input on the fictional portrait, she does have ideas in mind on how to make the painting look more like a genuine Sargent masterpiece. “I would have changed the setting. First and foremost, I would not have included the urn of flowers. Sargent would not have included such a fussy detail. If he had, they would have been boldly and abstractly painted in the background. The choice of furniture doesn’t seem right to me either. The main problem for me is the technique and finish, though.”
Given that this fictional painting was made possible by a photograph, the end result is too literal and detailed. “This is especially evident in the textiles,” explains Herdrich. “The swags of drapery in the background, her dress, and the carpet—these are all details that Sargent loved to paint in his signature style.
If you look at similar backgrounds in Sargent’s portraits, they are painted very broadly with expressive brushwork. Sargent suggests drapery with paint in a way that is beautiful and dynamic, but not literal. The same could be said of Gladys’s dress. In a Sargent portrait, we would see magnificent passages of brushwork that appear abstract up close.”
One such Sargent portrait that shows off the late artist’s technique, adds Herdrich, is Edouard and Marie Louise Pailleron, which features a draped background, a decorative carpet, and a beautifully painted white dress—the same color Gladys Russell wears in her portrait. This work is on display in the aforementioned exhibit at the Met.
In addition to being too photographic, Gladys’s portrait possesses hard edges and a stiffness in her figure that Herdrich states is antithetical to the work of Sargent. And while she does not mind that the series tried to create something original, staying closer to the source material would have been preferred. “There are so many wonderful painters working right now who worship John Singer Sargent. I would have loved to see what one of them would have done to create the portrait of Gladys,” muses Herdrich. “Imagine if one of them had embellished the photograph, paying homage to Sargent’s signature brushwork? In my opinion, that might have produced an interesting effect that evoked his style.”
As for Gladys Russell’s attire in her portrait, it strongly resembles the gown depicted in Giovanni Boldini’s Signorina Concha de Ossa. This design choice makes sense, according to Herdrich. “The costume designers of The Gilded Age, led by Kasia Walicka Maimone, are brilliant and creative and not striving to be literal at all times. I know they have a huge repertoire of images, including paintings by many artists of the period, that they are inspired by,” she explains.
“I think the Boldini dress is a good source—to me, it seems like a dress that Sargent would have been interested in painting. It’s white, a color he excelled at representing, and the pop of color of the sash reminds me of his magnificent portrait of Lady Agnew. The design team made a clear choice not to recreate a Sargent portrait, and I think the Boldini is a great and fun source.”