Sargent, John Singer

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US portrait painter. Born in Florence, Italy, of American parents, he studied there and in Paris, and settled in England in 1885. He quickly became a fashionable and prolific painter, though not in the sense that he flattered: he brilliantly depicted affluent late Victorian and Edwardian society, British and American. His portrait of Mme Gautreau, Madame X (1884; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), criticized for its impropriety when first shown in Paris, is one of his best-known works.

Dominant influences on his style were Frans Hals, Velázquez, and Monet, all artists whose free handling of paint gives a lively spontaneity to their works. His paintings of the Wertheimer family (Tate Gallery, London) constitute a remarkable family record, and for 25 years he portrayed a long series of celebrities, including Roosevelt, Rockefeller, Chamberlain, and Ellen Terry. The superficiality of which he is often accused could be said to reflect that of the society he depicted, and he remains an outstanding recorder of his age.

The wingless dragon holds jewels in its claws to represent prosperity. Saffron yellow symbolizes the power of the monarchy. Orange-red stands for Buddhism. Effective date: c. 1971. >>