Emily Sargent’s watercolors—recently rediscovered—capture the world with a clarity and expressiveness that were all her own. This exhibition brings her luminous work into focus, situating it within the creative, complex world of the Sargent family.
This unique presentation features watercolors by Emily Sargent (1857–1926), her older brother, renowned portraitist John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), and their mother, Mary Newbold Sargent (1826–1906). As the artistic family traveled seasonally through Europe, Mary encouraged her children’s creative aspirations. The siblings had a close relationship and often sketched and painted side by side. As John Singer Sargent’s bold portraits increasingly garnered critical attention, his younger sister Emily supported his career while building a body of work of her own that remained largely unseen.
Drawn entirely from The Met collection, Emily Sargent: Portrait of a Family takes a closer look at their creative aspirations and explores how paths diverged for daughter and son, revealing the challenges women artists faced in the late 19th century. Intended as a complement to The Met’s Sargent and Paris, this exhibition celebrates the recent gift—from the artists’ heirs—of 26 Emily Sargent watercolors, which will be making their debut. This generous gift continues a long legacy of family giving that formed the foundation of the Museum’s extensive Sargent holdings.
Emily Sargent: Portrait of a Family is made possible by the William P. Rayner Fund.
Emily Sargent, Sea with Boat & Figure, Pride's Crossing, 1923. Watercolor. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Anonymous Gift, at the request of members of the artist’s family, 2021