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Mr. Edward L Davis was a former mayor of Worcester From L.A. County Museum of Art Sargent spent June of
1890 in Worcester,
Massachusetts, executing what proved to be among the most important of
numerous portrait commissions from New York and Boston clients. His
subjects,
the socially prominent Mrs. Edward Livingston Davis and her young son,
posed for Sargent in the Davises' stable, partly because it was high
enough
to accommodate the tall easel, and partly because its shadowy volume
gave
him a dramatic dark ground that avoided allusion to a specific
location.
This device enabled Sargent to focus on the characters and relationship
of the pair. . . Combining a dark palette with strong
lighting
(as if the pair were standing just inside the stable door) Sargent
gained
an overall effect of brightness. Notes:
Exhibitions John Singer Sargent, An Exhibition -- Whitney Museum, NY & The Art Institute of Chicago 1986-1987Great Expectations: John Singer Sargent Painting Children; 2004-2005
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