Nancy Witcher Langhorne, Viscountess Astor CH, MP (1879-1964)
John Singer Sargent, RA (Florence 1856 - London 1925)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1908 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1750x1240x110 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Cliveden Estate, Buckinghamshire
NT 766112
Caption
When in 1908 Nancy, Viscountess Astor sat for John Singer Sargent, the artist had more or less abandoned commissioned portraits to concentrate on public mural projects in Boston. This portrait is one a few exceptions from this period showing the newly married Mrs Waldorf Astor as a captivating young beauty. Sargent would again capture Astor's likeness in 1923, this time in a quick pencil sketch (National Portrait Gallery, NPG 2885) by which time Astor's life had changed dramatically. In 1919 she had become the first woman to sit as a member of the British Parliament in the House of Commons and was a champion of women's rights.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Nancy Witcher Langhorne, Viscountess Astor CH, MP (1879-1964) by John Singer Sargent, RA (Florence 1856 - London 1925), signed top right: John S Sargent, 1908. A three-quarter-length portrait of a young woman, turned to the left, looking back over her right shoulder at the spectator, her hands are held behind her back, Light brown hair dressed high and wearing a white dress, with a pink sash in bow with tails rippling to ground. Stands among columns.
Provenance
Presented to the National Trust with house and grounds by Waldorf, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879 - 1952), 1942
Credit line
Cliveden, The Astor Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
John Singer Sargent, RA (Florence 1856 - London 1925), artist
Exhibition history
John Singer Sargent, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2018 - 2019
References
Return to Albion: Americans in England 1760–1940, National Portrait Gallery & Smithsonian Institution, 1979, pp.195ff Charteris,1927 The Hon. Evan Charteris, John Sargent, 1927, p.274 Mount 1957 Charles Merrill Mount, John Singer Sargent, 1957, p.349 Hedstrom (ed.) 2018: Per Hedstrom (ed.), John Singer Sargent (exh. cat.), National Museum: Stockholm, 2018., pp. 102-105