Mrs. Wilton Phipps 1884

This portrait of Mrs. Wilton Phipps was painted by John Singer Sargent, an American artist who lived in Europe, and was active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sargent was known for his society portraits, and here we see the stylish Mrs. Phipps, adorned with pearls, rings and a striking black and white dress. These portraits reflect the opulence and social stratification of the Gilded Age, where wealth and status were prominently displayed. But consider the unspoken narratives that may lie beneath the surface of Sargent’s portraits of women. Did these portraits empower women by immortalizing them on canvas, or did they reinforce societal expectations and limit their identities to their physical appearance and social standing? Sargent neither fully accepts nor fully rejects traditional portraiture. He allows us to think about both the individual and the cultural construction of identity. In this way the painting becomes a record of a specific time, and the psychology of both the painter and his sitter.