The most prolific American painter of the 19th century, with some 900 oil paintings to his name. Born to American parents in Italy, Sargent travelled the world. His paintings, capturing sumptuous fabrics and elegant sitters, evoke the Gilded Age in which he lived.
His most famous work, "Madame X", scandalised visitors to the Paris Salon in 1884 with its subject's heavy make-up and a dress strap slipping from her shoulder. Sargent repainted the strap in its proper place to appease the prudes, but cut ties with Paris, leaving for England and later America. He died in 1925.
A century after his death, "Sargentolatry" is thriving. The artist has been celebrated in a documentary, a spate of museum shows—including at Tate Britain and Kenwood House in London—and an exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the first solo show devoted to him in France. Hosted earlier at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the show attracted around 500,000 visitors, drawing more per day than the Met's most recent exhibition on Vincent van Gogh.
Sargent's portraits strike a chord in the age of social media, where everyone thinks about how to present themselves to the world. His subjects' confronting gazes, bright colours and handsome clothes are intriguing even at thumbnail size. His work was once of interest mainly to Americans and Britons but is increasingly popular in Asia and among Chinese social-media users, especially "Madame X".
All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power.