Women in the 19C United States of America: John Singer Sargent's Baby Sister & Model Violet

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

John Singer Sargent's Baby Sister & Model Violet

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) 1875

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) was John Singer Sargent's (1856 - 1925) youngest sister. John was 14 years older than Violet. After studying at the Accademia delle Belle Arti, Violet married Francis Ormond. Of John's 3 siblings, Violet was the only one to marry, and she would have 6 children. John would paint his sister over & over. These are some of his portraits of his baby sister.

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) 1881
In 1889, John Singer Sargent, 33 years old, traveled back & forth between Paris & London, painting several portraits of his sister Violet. It was a momentous year for both of them, for their whole family.

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) 1883
On April 25th Dr. FitzWilliam Sargent (John's father) dies at the age of 69. In his life he had pursued a successful medical career in Philadelphia until 1854, when he & his wife, Mary Newbold Singer Sargent, traveled to Europe -- never to live in the United States again.

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) 1883

In the summer after his father's death, he cancels a visit with Monet at Giverny and returns to England to be with his family (his mother & two sisters) at Fladbury Rectory, Pershore, on the river Avon.

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) The Breakfast Table 1884

There he paints Lady Fishing - Mrs. Ormond is his sister Violet Sargent Ormond (before she was married). She would have been about 19 years old. Then he paints A Boating Party which probably includes Violet again.

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) and Flora Priestley 1889
On December 4th, he sails for New York taking his sister Violet with him. She had been in a relationship with Francis Ormond of whom the newly widowed Mrs. Sargent (their mother) didn't approve. It was their intent to separate the two lovers and for John to introduce her to eligible American gentlemen. It did not work, Violet married Francis.

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) 1889

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) Lady Fishing -- Mrs Ormond 1889

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) Resting on the Grass 1889

Violet Sargent Autumn on the River 1889

Violet Sargent Ormond's Children Conrad (1898-1979) and Reine (1897-1971) Conrad 1906

Violet Sargent (1870-1955) Violet Sleeping 1908.

About this blog

In colonial America, men were considered superior to woman in all ways. In a strict patriarchal hierarchy, men controlled not only wealth & political power but also how their children were raised, religious questions, & all matters of right & wrong.

In the early part of the 19Cy, however, many Americans experienced a revolution in gender. The doctrine of “separate spheres” maintained that woman’s sphere was the world of privacy, family, & morality while man’s sphere was the public world -– economic striving, political maneuvering, & social competition. But women were interested in equality.

In 1848, New York passed the Married Woman’s Property Act. Now a woman wasn’t automatically liable for her husband’s debts; she could enter contracts on her own; she could collect rents or receive an inheritance in her own right; she could file a lawsuit on her own behalf. She became for economic purposes, an individual. By 1900, every state has passed legislation modeled after this, granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

In 1870 after the Civi War, the 15th Amendment was ratified, saying, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” African-Americans could vote, but women could not.

But it was not until 1920, that the 19th Amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”