Mary Crowninshield Endicott (Mrs. Joseph Chamberlain), 1902, oil on canvas, Gift of the sitter Mary Endicott Chamberlain Carnegie, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Title: Mary Crowinshield Endicott (Mrs. Joseph Chamberlain)
Artist: John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Celebrating John Singer’s Sargent Birthday!*
Her name was Mary Crowinshield Endicott, the daughter of a Secretary of War and the wife of British statesman Joseph Chamberlain. Dressed in the height of fashion for 1902, the gown she wears seems to swirl around her, a silk extravaganza of silver and blue. The prominent oversize sleeve in particular draws our attention, representing the current style among society’s elite. Along with the feathery plume that tops her hair, upswept in the latest coiffure.
Born in 1864, she was nearly 40, yet doesn’t she project a feeling of youthful vitality? Confident, too, unafraid to face the challenges of life, no matter her age. Dying at 93, she survived two world wars, the death of two husbands, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
*John Singer Sargent was born on January 12.
In the public domain, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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