Esther Fiske Hammond, Mrs. Gardiner Greene Hammond
Artist
John Singer Sargent
(American, 1856–1925)
Date1903
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 88.9 x 63.8 cm (35 x 25 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of her daughter, Miss Elizabeth Mifflin Hammond
Object number1961.36
Label TextEsther Fiske (1868–1955) married Gardiner Hammond in 1893, a union that merged two major Boston merchant families. By 1903, she was the mother of six children, and the family sought out artists such as Mary Cassatt, William Morris Hunt, and John Singer Sargent for their portraits. In contrast to the other likenesses by Sargent along this wall, this work presents the sitter in an open and engaging pose, expressing both her outgoing personality and her role as a prominent hostess. The heavy frame is original to the painting, indicating the range of solutions Sargent’s patrons used to frame their pictures.ProvenanceThe sitter, Esther Fiske Hammond (Mrs. Gardiner Greene Hammond); her daughter, Elizabeth Mifflin Hammond, Santa Barbara, CA, until 1961; given to the Worcester Art Museum, 1961.On View
Not on view
