Quote from Olson's JSS biography. (A foot note on page 2 talking about Fitzwilliam, JSS' father) 
 

The precise date of birth cannot be confirmed by any official document, though FitzWilliam claimed eighteen years later that he had registered the birth.  

At various times FitzWilliam, who was otherwise accurate about family birthdays, confused the date of his son's birth. On 3 September 1874, he wrote to a friend about the event and left the day of the month blank, later filled in an "11", and then changed it to "12" (Massachusetts Historical Society). In another letter, this time to his sister (2 December 1872) he wrote: "January is a memorable month in our family: —John s birth-day was on the 10th, I believe (I have a wretched memory for dates) — Emily's is on the 29th, mine on the 17th, Pa's on the 20th . .(Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution). Thirty-four years later another January anniversary could be added to the list: Mary Sargent died on the twenty-first. John Sargent and his family always celebrated his birthday on the twelfth. 
 

From your February what's new section, I have found you thought you share your birthday with Sargent, but sadly it is not. I believe you might know that by now, but anyway Sargent's birthday is January 12th, not July 12th. I'm sorry, it might be pretty cool if you shared your birthday with Sargent. 
 

From: Natasha 
11/11/1999 

Well, I'm utterly crushed!  

I am giving up the Sargent pages and I will go find a painter that shares my birthday . . . .  

:( 

(just kidding) 

Subejct: Other Artist that Share Natasha's Birthday 
From: The Pragmatic Romanticist 
2/10/2000 

(This was sent this to me some time ago but just now getting around to posting it) 
 
Hi Natasha 

I hope you've recovered from the loss of a shared birthday with JSS. If you should insist though that your web site be aligned with someone sharing a common birthday,  you have plenty to choose from: 

You could: 

go figure skating with Kristi Yamaguchi 
be a thespian with Cheryl Ladd 
share Fleetwood Mac with Christine McVie 
have a dubious sexual preference with Richard Simmons 
tell jokes with Bill Cosby 
steal jokes with Milton Berle 
play Chopin with Van Cliburn 
design another geodesic dome with Buckminster Fuller 
dig in the dirt with George Washington Carver for peanuts 
write lyrics with Oscar Hammerstein 
wax philosophical with Henry David Thoreau 
take photos with George Eastman 
sing an aria with Kirsten Flagstad 
rule the Catholic world with Pope Clement X 
rule Russia with Michael in the 1600's 
study thermionics with Saul Dushan 
write French poetry with Max Jacob 
influence the Russian intelligentsia with N. G. Chernyshevsky 
write metaphysical English poety with Edward Benlowes 
and do avoid the Ides of March with Julius Caeser 
and don't forget to celebrate the Feast of Saint Veronica 

if you insist on painters though,  you can 

paint French landscapes outside with Eugene Boudin  
live in Switzerland and create miniature portraits in enamel with Jean Petitot 

and here is a painter I admire 

paint impressionistic nudes with  Amodeo Modigliani 
I have attached a scan of a Modigliani I saw in Toronto in 1998 at an exhibit from England called "The Courtauld Collection" I cannot resist also attaching a scan of  my favourite work from that show: Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere although in the right mood I preferred Renoir's La Loge Here is the most appropriate one I think: 

create some wondrously enigmatic paintings with Andrew Wyeth  I've attached a scan of Wyeth's most famous work Christina's World which I'm sure you've seen. It carries with it that ethereal quality that I so love in JSS. 

From Natasha 
2/10/00 

Hmmmmm, That's quite a choice to choose from. I guess I'm in good company.  

I have actually seen "The Courtauld Collection", though when I saw it -- maybe early 90's. It bold me over and was the first time I was exposed to the French Impressionists in person. And I agree with you, Renoir's La Loge was the most stunning and I have been a huge fan of Renoir ever since. I even bought a print of it. Like most paintings, the image online can only capture a fraction of its beauty; and what startled me most was the degree of depth and texture of the paint itself. 

Ah Yes! Andrew Wyeth! What an amazing artist. I saw a show of his work a few years ago as well and I was stunned by the melancholy nature -- the austere and stark impact of his work. It really effected me deeply and reminds me a great deal of Sargent's more moody pieces such as Street in Venice and some of his other Venetian Studies.  

Wyeth, like Sargent, works in a very tight color pallet, muted tones of grays and browns. It evokes a lot of Sargent, I think. I don't have good access to a lot of Wyeth's work online but take a look at Wyeth's  Up in the Studio, 1965, drybrush on paper, or In the Orchard, 1973, watercolor. And Wyeth's nudes such as Heat Lightning, 1977, tempera on panel, have a similar gritty tight tonality that Sargent's male nudes have such as Nude Study of Thomas E. McKeller; and they both worked extensively in watercolors. I think there is a lot of Sargent's emotions in Wyeth -- a kinship of sorts. Although for me, Wyeth is even more stark. His lone figures in rural settings are even more melancholy and leave me more detached than I get from that odd feeling of loneliness in Sargent's Daughters of Edward Darley Boit. 

Yes Wyeth would be a good one to do a web page on . .  . 

Thank you I appreciated your letter, and I as well love the Modigliani painting you sent.