In the 1890s, John Singer Sargent averaged fourteen portrait commissions per year, none more beautiful than the genteel Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892!  I still remember when I first saw this amazing work--sadly not in person but in a lovely book, 'Sargent' by Carter Ratliffe.  I was awestruck...still am!  Maybe someday I will be fortunate enough to see this lovely painting in person!

It now resides in the National Galleries of Scotland.  Andrew Noel Agnew, a barrister who had inherited the baronetcy and estates of Lochnaw in Galloway, Scotland, commissioned this painting of his young wife, Gertrude Vernon (1865-1932), in 1892.  The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, and made Sargent's name.  Portrait commissions poured in and Sargent enjoyed something of a cult following in Edwardian society.

John Singer Sargent
'Lady Agnew'
oil on canvas