"Like
the portrait of Madame Pailleron, the
picture represents a woman of style and
sophistication. In painting the sitter
in her personal surroundings, Sargent
is drawing on the tradition of fashionable
figures in interiors by artists like James
Tissot and Alfred Stevens, the elegant
dresss and the aesthetic furnishings and
accessories reflecting and defining her
artistic tastes. " Written by
Elaine Kilmurray, quoted from page 92
from the book John Singer Sargent
edited by Elaine Kilmurray and Richard
Ormond, published by Princeton University
Press, 1998.
