#happy birthday -

John Singer Sargent - George Peabody, 1890. 85.1 x 66 cm oil on canvas

“A very fine looking old man - and very lively - yes, and charming, I should say - and tells killingly funny stories. But portrait painting…is very close quarters - a dangerous thing - no, I must say I had a very disagreeable time of it.”

– John Singer Sargent, in the diary of Lucia Fairchild. Boston, October 2nd 1890