Sybil Sassoon (1894-1989) married the Earl of Rocksavage in 1913 and became Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1923 with his accession to fifth maquess.

When Sargent painted a portrait of Aline, Lady Sassoon, in 1907, the Sassoon family were initially not completely won over by it. Apparently this is when Sargent made his well-known comment, "It seems there is something wrong with the mouth! A portrait is a painting with a little something wrong about the mouth." (Stansky p. 19) The portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1907. 

When the Hon. Evan Charteris discussed the portrait in his biography of Sargent, he described it thus:  [Editor's Note - paragraph breaks added with p] 
 

In the portrait of Lady Sassoon, Sargent has conveyed a subtle impression of the individuality of his sitter. Evidently he was confronted with a highly strung temperament, features of exceptional distinction and refinement, and a personality kindly, alert - even to the point of restlessness - and instinct with pride of race. The result is both a study of character and a work of art It is painted with the utmost freedom and dexterity. The tumultuous crown of feathers in the hat, the movement suggested in the pose of the figure, the quick play of light and shade over the black silk cloak, the elegant and sensitive hands, all contribute to an impression bordering on flurry. [p] 

Yet in spite of this a certain nobility and calm, deeper than momentary agitation, is the ultimate effect of the composition. Not infrequently Sargent is criticized for opaqueness or leatheriness in his paint, for a want of luminosity and charm in his colour; here there is no trace of these defects. The delicate ivory white of the skin has a quality of transparency, the liveliness of the black and the softness of the rose-colour, introduced to give freshness to the scheme, are delightful. All has been painted with a sure and fluent touch. [p] 

If the spectator disregards the portrait and considers solely the picture, he is at once struck by the beauty of the design, its plastic structure, the crisp freshness of the colour, and the black background on which the figure has been wrought. This has a quality of range and mystery purely atmospheric, its depth appears illimitable. . .  (Charteris, pp. 175-176). 

He made a third charcoal sketch of Sybil in 1920 and a second of Philip in 1921, and in January of that same year Philip arranged for Sargent to make a charcoal sketch of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII, afterwards the Duke of Windsor) (Stanksy, p. 99). In 1922 he painted a second portrait of Sybil, commissioned by Philip, which was to hang at Philip's home in Park Lane, where the 1907 portrait of Lady Sassoon already graced the staircase. In the 1922 portrait, Sybil wears a sixteenth-century style dress designed by Worth, London; her own pearls as well as those of her mother; and a jeweled imperial eagle given by Philip IV to Dona Maria of Austria (Philip Sassoon had purchased the jewel). This portrait was exhibited in April 1922 at the Royal Academy. The following year Sargent painted an oil portrait of Philip, which was also to hang at Park Lane. (Stansky p. 144) At his country home, Port Lympne, Philip also had a portrait of the prize fighter Jack Johnson by Sargent (Stanksy p. 153)  

In 1925 Sargent sketched Sybil's daughter, Lady Aline Cholmondeley, in charcoal - it was the last drawing he completed before his death (Stansky p. 35). 

Philip died in 1939, leaving his 1923 oil portrait by Sargent to the Tate Gallery. The trustees accepted his bequest; they declined, however, to accept a second bequest - the 1921 charcoal drawing of the Prince of Wales. Perhaps the scar left upon England by the abdication crisis in 1936 was still too fresh in the minds of the trustees. (Stansky p. 144) 

Stansky's book also contains some great information on Sargent's visits to the Western front during World War I and some of the watercolours he painted there, as well as his large work Gassed. (See pages 76-78.)

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Note

Provenance:    
Formerly in the collection of Sassoon, Lady, until 1909.
Sassoon, Philip, Sir, until 1939.
Cholmondeley, Marchioness of, London, England until 1989.
Cholmondeley, Marquess of, until 1990.

References:    
Ormond, Richard and Elaine Kilmurray, "John Singer Sargent: complete paintings; volume 3, The later portraits," New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003, no. 531.
Ormond, Richard, "John Singer Sargent: paintings, drawings, watercolors," New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
Sweet, Frederick A., "Sargent, Whistler, and Mary Cassatt," (a catalogue of the exhibition The Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. 14 through Feb. 25, 1954 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 25 through May 23, 1954), Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1954.

Illustration:    
Ormond, Richard and Elaine Kilmurray, "John Singer Sargent: complete paintings; volume 3, The later portraits," New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003, pg. 186.
Sweet, Frederick A., "Sargent, Whistler, and Mary Cassatt," (a catalogue of the exhibition The Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. 14 through Feb. 25, 1954 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 25 through May 23, 1954), Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1954, p. 68.

SIRIS #IAP 81890048

1) 

From: Anonymous Friend of the JSS Gallery 

Also wanted to pass along some information on the Sassoon family. I think I had mentioned to you before that I had recently purchased Peter Stansky's new book Sassoon: The Worlds of Philip and Sybil (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2003). The book is excellent - both well written and well-illustrated. There are numerous references to Sargent throughout the book, so I tried to pull together some of the various points into a cohesive history of Sargent's relationship with the Sassoon family. Stansky also briefly quotes Evan Charteris' biography of Sargent when discussing the 1907 portrait of Lady Aline Sassoon. I consulted my copy of Charteris' biography and have provided a more lengthy quote [above]. First, here is a list of all of the Sargent works which are illustrated in the book.  

Illustrations:  

frontispiece - Portrait of Sir Philip Sassoon (1923)  
p. 20 - Portrait of Aline, Lady Sassoon (1907)  
p. 36 - Charcoal Sketch of Sybil Sassoon (1910)   - Charcoal Sketch of Sybil Sassoon (1912)  
p. 37 - Portrait of Sybil Sassoon, the Countess of Rocksavage (1913)  
p. 78 - Ruined Cathedral of Arras (1918)  
p. 100 - Charcoal Sketch of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales [The Royal Collection]  
p. 142 - Portrait of the Countess of Rocksavage (later the Marchioness of  
Cholmondeley)(1922)  
p. 146 - Charcoal Study of the Marchioness of Cholmondeley and Paul Manship, 1923, which shows Manship executing a sculpture of the Marchioness  

• See the year in review 1907