Painting of the Week - Lady Helen Vincent by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent, Lady Helen Vincent, 1904
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham

I can't be bothered profiling a new artist so here's a piece by John Singer Sargent demonstrating his skill as a portraitist. Sargent had established himself as an incredible portraitist in Paris where he studied but moved himself to London after the Paris Salon scandal surrounding his Portrait of Madame X. In London, he became the leading paint of the English aristocracy and the Jewish-American haute-bourgeoisie. Lady Helen Vincent reflects the much-prized quality of Sargent's portraits in that they reflect not only the sitter's looks but also their personality. Of course, what we see may not always be what the sitter wanted...

In her portrait, we see Lady Helen opulently dressed, gazing at us while she leans against a balustrade and plays with her string of pearls. At first glance of her incredible dress, her flawless complexion, pretty face and long neck, our reaction is like that of the art dealer Rene Gimpel who said in 1920 that she 'must be the most beautiful woman in England.' But look again - is she looking at us with a haughty gaze and arrogant tilt of the head, playing with her pearls as if giving us only a fraction of her attention? If so, then we're thinking more like landscape designer Edwin Luytens who called her 'hollow inside, dilettantish, and utterly superficial.'

So which interpretation do you think is the real Lady Helen Vincent?