See the Work
Where to experience John Singer Sargent's works in person, and resources to learn more
Madame X, 1883
Permanent Collections
Institutions holding John Singer Sargent's original works, plus the public-domain archive these images are drawn from.
The works in this archive come from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. All are in the public domain.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City
Holds Madame X, the portrait of Henry G. Marquand and a large body of watercolours, oil sketches and early sketchbook drawings of the Alps, Venice, Spain, Morocco and Florida; open-access images are released under CC0.
Learn MoreNational Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C.
Home to En route pour la pêche, Mrs. Adrian Iselin, Mrs. Henry White, Street in Venice and Nonchaloir, and, through the Corcoran Collection, a large group of figure studies for the Boston murals and Gassed.
Learn MoreCleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, Ohio
Holds the 1898 portrait of Lisa Colt Curtis, works on paper such as In Austrian Tyrol and The Patio, and studies for Gassed; open-access images are released under CC0.
Learn MoreMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
Holds The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, Fishing for Oysters at Cancale, a large group of watercolours bought in 1912 and Sargent's Rotunda and Colonnade murals.
Learn MoreIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Boston, Massachusetts
Holds El Jaleo and Sargent's 1888 portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, together with works reflecting their long friendship.
Learn MoreBoston Public Library
Boston, Massachusetts
Sargent Hall houses the Triumph of Religion mural cycle, commissioned in 1890 and worked on until 1919.
Learn MoreTate Britain
London
Holds Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, bought through the Chantrey Bequest in 1887, and an unfinished study for Madame X.
Learn MoreImperial War Museum
London
Holds Gassed (1919), commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee.
Learn MoreMajor Exhibitions
Notable retrospectives and exhibitions of John Singer Sargent's work.
First one-man exhibition
St. Botolph Club, Boston
Sargent's first solo show, including The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, Mrs. Charles E. Inches and the portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner.
Memorial exhibitions
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; New York; London
Exhibitions held after Sargent's death; the Boston memorial show opened on November 3, 1925, alongside the unveiling of his Colonnade murals.
John Singer Sargent
Tate Gallery, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The largest Sargent retrospective since 1926: Tate (October 15, 1998 - January 17, 1999), Washington (February 21 - May 31, 1999) and Boston (June 23 - September 26, 1999).
John Singer Sargent: Watercolors
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A dedicated presentation of Sargent's watercolours from the MFA's holdings.
Fashioned by Sargent / Sargent and Fashion
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Tate Britain, London
Paintings shown with period clothing to explore how Sargent styled his sitters (Boston, October 8, 2023 - January 15, 2024; Tate Britain, February - July 7, 2024).
Sargent and Paris
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Centenary exhibition of Sargent's Paris decade that reunited Madame X with its preparatory works (New York, April - August 3, 2025; Paris, September 22, 2025 - January 11, 2026).
Books & Films About John Singer Sargent
Essential resources for understanding John Singer Sargent's life and work.
Essential Reading
The first full biography, published two years after Sargent's death by a friend of the artist.
A modern biography drawing on Sargent's letters, including his correspondence about abandoning portrait commissions.
Films & Other Resources
James's essay in the October 1887 Harper's New Monthly Magazine, the first serious critical appreciation of the painter, published as Sargent began his American career.
Catalogue of the 1998-99 retrospective at the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with Ormond's biographical essay and Mary Crawford Volk on the Boston murals.
The multi-volume catalogue raisonné of Sargent's paintings, published by Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre, the standard reference for dating and provenance.
Catalogue of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition (with Tate Britain) on Sargent's use of dress and fashion in portraiture.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's centenary catalogue on Sargent's first decade in Paris, from his arrival in 1874 to Madame X, distributed by Yale University Press.
Online Resources
Explore the Archive
Browse 329 John Singer Sargent works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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