John Singer Sargent’s Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children
John Singer Sargent’s magisterial painting, Mrs. Carl Meyer and her Children of 1896, depicts Adèle Meyer with her children Elsie Charlotte and Frank Cecil. This remarkable work of art is one of Sargent’s most beloved portraits. When it was first shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1897 it was both praised and disparaged. Henry James reviewed the painting in Harper’s Weekly writing, “Of these elements Mr. Sargent has made a picture of a knock-down insolence of talent and truth of characterization, a wonderful rendering of life, of manners, of aspects, of types, of textures, of everything.”
Seductive, flamboyant, and deeply revealing, this lushly painted portrait captures the world of a privileged family of English Jews who lived over a century ago. Carl Meyer, the husband of the sitter, worked for the Rothschild family as their chief clerk and negotiator before becoming the deputy chairman of South Africa’s De Beers mining group. In 1910 he was ennobled with a Baronetcy.
As a society hostess known for her exuberant soirées, enchanting voice, and support of the arts, Lady Meyer was also a socially concerned philanthropist supporting working class women, underprivileged families, and women’s suffrage. On loan from the Tate Britain in London, it has been over 10 years since this painting was on view in the United States. The exhibition highlights this remarkable work—contextualizing it with other family portraits, family photographs, personal correspondence and domestic memorabilia, as well as satirical imagery from popular culture that relates to both the Meyer family and John Singer Sargent.
John Singer Sargent’s Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children is organized by Norman L. Kleeblatt, Susan and Elihu Rose Chief Curator, with Lucy H. Partman, Curatorial Assistant.
In the Press
“engrossing and intimate”
— The New York Times
“a brilliant one-painting show”
— Blake Gopnik, Artnet
John Singer Sargent’s Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children is made possible by the PNF Fund and the Maurice I. Parisier Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Susan and Elihu Rose and Ealan and Melinda Wingate.
The dining room at Shortgrove (with Sargent’s portrait of Mrs. Carl Meyer and her Children above the mantle). Photograph reproduced in the Shortgrove sale catalogue, July 28, 1924, Knight Frank and Rutley.
Exhibition highlights
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John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Carl Meyer and her Children, 1896. Oil on canvas. Tate: Bequeathed by Adèle, Lady Meyer 1930, with a life interest for her son and grandson and presented in 2005 in celebration of the lives of Sir Anthony and Lady Barbadee Meyer, accessioned 2009
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John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Elsie, 1908
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Glyn Philpot, Frank Meyer, 1911. Oil on canvas. Private collection, United Kingdom
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Herbert von Herkomer, Carl Meyer, 1908. Oil on canvas. Private collection, United Kingdom. The Jewish Museum, New York
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Cartoon lampooning Mrs. Carl Meyer and her Children by John Singer Sargent, published in Punch, 1897. Courtesy of the Fales Library & Special Collection, New York University
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Installation view of the exhibition John Singer Sargent's Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children. September 16, 2016 – February 5, 2017. The Jewish Museum, NY. Photo by: Will Ragozzino/SocialShutterbug.com
