John Singer Sargent peers intensely into young lives
Oregonian
By D.K Row

Miss Elsie Palmer is a nervous owl of a girl. The awkward adolescent's hands are clasped, her body upright, and she wears a blank, spooky expression. Painted by John Singer Sargent in 1889, this portrait of the daughter of an American general is not flattering. But that's its allure.

The teen is one of Sargent's more interesting and innovative subjects in a new show at the Portland Art Museum, "Great Expectations: John Singer Sargent Painting Children," which opened Saturday. Organized by the Brooklyn Museum, the show gathers 42 Sargent paintings of well-heeled children and teenagers, captured in plush, Victorian-era settings. While adults only linger in the periphery of this sumptuous exhibit, the show delivers a fully grown take on the artist. "Great Expectations" -- which takes its title from the Charles Dickens novel -- reveals Sargent as a technical master who earned his reputation as a chronicler of the splendidly wealthy and famous. More...

See some of John Singer Sargent paintings.