Originally presented at the T.W. Wood Gallery and Arts Center – Montpelier, VT

“Had he chosen to become a musician, he would have risen to eminence in one way or the other, in our art.”

This was said by the composer Charles Loeffler of arguably the finest portrait painter of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, The very cosmopolitan American artist, John Singer Sargent. An accomplished pianist himself, Sargent often punctuated his studio sessions by playing the music of some of the composers who became friends and confidantes, throughout his prolific career.

Brahms, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Charles Loeffler and Percy Grainger were all artistic intimates of Sargent’s, who used his personal wealth and position in High Society, especially in England and later in New England, to inspire their music and advance their careers.

This WordStage presentation is derived from observations by contemporary chroniclers and from correspondence exchanged between Sargent and society hostess and passion patron of the Arts – Isabella Stewart Gardner; whose championing of his work virtually made Sargent’s career on America, and in the most important galleries and salons abroad. This collaboration, by way of its warm and affectionate existence, proved to be a happy and lifelong marriage between the visual and performing arts throughout Europe and the Eastern United States.