The stories behind the paintings

A young woman stands in profile against a warm brown background, one hand resting on a small table, the other gathering the folds of a black satin gown. Her skin is so pale it looks almost lavender, her ear is touched with rouge, and her head turns away from us with a kind of proud indifference. Today she is one of the most admired portraits in New York. In the spring of 1884, at the Paris Salon, she was a disaster. John Singer Sargent called the picture “the best thing I have done” — and it very nearly ended his career in Paris. John Singer Sargent, Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) , 1883–84. Oil on canvas, 208.6 × 109.9 cm. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916, accession 16.53. Open Access / Public Domain. Fine-art print available from the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get this painting as a print → Quick facts Artist: John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), American painter, ...

A line of soldiers shuffles across the canvas, their eyes covered with bandages. Each man rests a hand on the shoulder of the one in front, and an orderly guides them along a duckboard path towards a dressing station. One soldier lifts his foot absurdly high, unable to see the step. All around them, on the ground, lie dozens of other wounded men, waiting their turn. The low evening sun hangs in a yellow haze. Gassed , completed by John Singer Sargent in March 1919, is one of the most famous images of the First World War, and one of the largest: more than six metres long. John Singer Sargent, Gassed, 1919. Oil on canvas. Imperial War Museum, London. Image via the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get this painting as a print → Quick facts Artist: John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) Date: Completed March 1919 Medium: Oil on canvas, about 231 × 611 cm Collection: Imperial War Museum, London Notable fact: Sargent witnessed the scene near Arras in August 1918; the picture was voted ...

Twilight in an English garden. Two little girls in white dresses stand among tall lilies, pink roses and carnations, lighting Chinese paper lanterns. The glow of the candles turns their faces and hands warm gold, while the garden around them fades into the cool blue-green of dusk. John Singer Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose , painted in 1885–86 and now in Tate Britain, is one of the best-loved pictures in London, and one of the most patient: Sargent painted it a few minutes at a time, only when the light was exactly right. John Singer Sargent, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885–86. Oil on canvas. Tate Britain, London. Image via the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get this painting as a print → Quick facts Artist: John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) Date: 1885–1886 Medium: Oil on canvas, 174 × 153.7 cm Collection: Tate Britain, London (Chantrey Bequest, 1887) Painted at: Broadway, Worcestershire, in the Cotswolds Where does the title come from? The odd, singsong title ...