Mrs
George Batten Singing
John Singer Sargent
-- American painter
c. 1897
Glasgow Museums: Art
Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove
Oil on Canvas
88.9 X 43.2 cm.
Signed and Inscribed
across upper edge: To Mrs. Batten John S. Sargent
Jpg: Friend of the JSS Gallery
From: Matt Davies
<matt davies@jssgallery.org>
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002
Mrs. Batten (nee Mabel Veronica
Hatch, c. 1857-1915) was the daughter of an upper-class military family,
and grew up for a time in India. There she met and
married George Batten, an older military officer, and later they moved
to London. In 1908 she began a
lesbian affair with the author Marguerite Radclyffe
Hall. She was a talented amateur mezzo-soprano. Sargent admired
her and presented her with this portrait.
Notes:
Special thanks to Matt Davies, of
Kansas City, a friend
of the JSS Gallery, for sending me a note regarding this image.
The Portrait of a Lady: Sargent and
Lady Agnew, by Julia Rayer Rolfe, with David
Cannadine, Kenneth McConkey, and Wilfred Mellers. It was published
by the Trustees of the National Galler
of Scotland as the catalogue for the exhibit
of the same name which was held there 8 August-19 October 1997.
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