Madame Paul Poirson

1885

John Singer Sargent American, 1856-1925

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance page
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Sargent attained international prominence as a fashionable society portraitist. In both formal and informal scenes Sargent captured his wealthy clients' physical and psychological natures, the gentility and sumptuousness of the era, and the impression of a fleeting moment.

In this portrait, the disposition of the elongated figure is natural and straightforward, seen in three-quarter view, with her head turned inquisitively, as though she might have walked immediately into this position and looked at Sargent. The personality of Madame Poirson is suggested by the aloofness of her gaze and the icy blue color of the background.

In 1883 John Singer Sargent rented a studio owned by Paul Poirson. According to family history, this portrait of Poirson’s wife was executed in lieu of rent payment. Sargent’s friendly relationship with the Poirsons made this work more personal than the business action might suggest.

Title Madame Paul Poirson

Artwork Date 1885

Artist John Singer Sargent

Life Dates 1856-1925

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 60 × 34 inches (152.4 × 86.4 cm) Framed: 78 inches × 52 inches × 4 1/4 inches (198.1 × 132.1 × 10.8 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Manoogian, the Beatrice Rogers Fund, Gibbs-Williams Fund and Ralph Harman Booth Bequest Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 73.41

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, upper left: John S. Sargent 1885

Provenance

John Singer Sargent;
the sitter, Seymourina Cuthbert Poirson;
her daughter-in-law, Madame Charles Poirson;
until 1972, her son, Gerard Poirson;
until 1973, Newhouse Galleries;
1973-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Le Décor de la Vie sous la 3ème Republique de 1870 a 1900. Exh. cat., Le Palais du Louvre, Pavillion de Maison. Paris, 1933, p. 38, no. 301.

Autour de 1900. Exh. cat., Le Galerie Charpeutier. Paris, 1950, no. 155.

Mount, Charles Merrill. John Singer Sargent: A Biography. New York, 1955, pp. 91, 430.

McKibbin, David. Sargent’s Boston. Boston, 1956, p. 116.

Mount, Charles Merrill. John Singer Sargent: A Biography. London, 1957, pp. 112, 339.

John S. Sargent 1856-1925. Exh. cat., Le Centre Culturel Americain. Paris, 1963, no. 13.

Mount, Charles Merrill. John Singer Sargent: A Biography. New York, 1969, pp. 91, 448.

Ormond, Richard. John Singer Sargent: Paintings, Drawings, Watercolours. London, 1970, p. 33.

Curry, Larry J. “Madame Paul Poirson: An Early Portrait by Sargent.” Bulletin of the DIA 51 (1972): pp. 97-104 (ill.).

Rivard, Nancy J. “American Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts.” Antiques 114, 10 (Novemeber 1978): pp. 1044-1055 (ill.).

John Singer Sargent and the Edwardian Age. Exh. cat., Lotherton Hall, Leeds Art Galleries. London, 1979, p. 36, no. 18 (pl. 3).

Ratcliff, Carter. John Singer Sargent. New York, 1982, pp. 93-94 (pl. 129).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 204-205 (ill.).

Olson, Stanley. John Singer Sargent: His Portrait. London, 1986, p. 100.

Henshaw, Julia, ed. The Detroit Institute of Arts: A Visitor’s Guide. Detroit, 1995, p. 78 (ill.).

Ormond, Richard and Elaine Kilmurray. John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits (Complete Paintings, Vol. 1). New Haven, CT, 1998, pp. 104, 127 (ill.).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

John Singer Sargent, Madame Paul Poirson, 1885, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Manoogian, the Beatrice Rogers Fund, et al., 73.41.