John Singer Sargent was born in Florence, Italy in 1856 to American ex-patriots, his father was a doctor from Gloucester, Massachusetts; his mother from Philadelphia. It would not be until age 21 that would he visit America for the first time. Sargent showed signs of being artistic from an early age and with the encouragement of his mother began sketching animals at the Paris Zoo at the age of nine. From 1868 until 1869 he worked in the studio of Carl Welsch in Rome and then attended the Academy of Fine Art in Florence where he took a variety of art courses.

In 1874, the family settled in Paris and Sargent worked for the first few months at the École des Beaux-Arts but soon decided to apprentice at the studio of renowned portrait painter Carolus-Duran. Following that apprenticeship, Sargent headed to Spain to study the work of Valasquez. Returning to Paris, Sargent began gaining a wide recognition for his work. He often painted with his friend Monet and began working on landscape paintings as well as his signature portraiture. His compositions became more daring and critics were becoming disturbed by his seemingly empty sections of canvas and deep shadows.

In 1884 he painted what was to become one of his most famous works. A painting of Madame Gautreau, an ex-American patriot and Parisian socialite, which caused a great deal of horror and scandal amongst the Paris art world. The original portrait showed Madame Gautreau with her right shoulder strap erotically slipped over her shoulder. This eroticism, combined with her grave flesh tones, proved too much for not only the conservative critics, but for Madame Gautreau and her husband who no longer wanted any part of art or artist. The portrait then became known as “Madame X”. Not long after the scandal, Sargent moved to London where he would live for the rest of his life.

In London, Sargent quickly re-established his career as a portraitist, and through the patronage of several key London social elites, he was once again able to secure the trust of his aristocratic sitters. Sargent's career began rise to unprecedented heights through important portrait and mural commissions. In 1887 Sargent journeyed to America for the second time and he was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, a pursuit that would occupy him for the rest of his life.

The turn of the century saw Sargent continue his travels to both Europe and America using London as his home base. He produced many landscape paintings, which largely went unrecognized and kept up with his many mural commissions. In 1907 he announced he would abandon formal portrait painting altogether stating, “Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend”

While preparing for a trip to Boston from his London residence, Sargent died quietly in his sleep of a heart attack on April 25, 1925 at the age of sixty-nine.