In late 1892 Sargent began work on the portrait of Lady Agnew, commissioned by Andrew Noel Agnew, a barrister who had inherited the baronetcy and estates of Lochnaw in Galloway.

The sitter was to be of his young wife, Gertrude Vernon (1865-1932).

agnew


Lady Agnew - John Singer Sargent

The critics loved it when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1898 and subsequent exhibitions:

A masterpiece... not only a triumph of technique but the finest example of portraiture in the literal sense of the word, that has been seen here in a long while. (The Times, 1893)