John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was born January 12, 1856, in the city of Florence, Italy. Although his parents were of American descend - Sargent considered himself to be an American as well - he spent most of his life in Europe. Sargent's artistic talents were known to be on clear display from a very young age and he began enrolling in various art classes in Florence at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in his late teens. In 1874, because of the support of his father, he traveled to Paris, in order for him to continue studying in the art capital of Europe. Because his style of painting defied many of the accepted standards of the day, he received a lot of negative feedback. An exhibition for Madame X at the Paris Salon of 1884 is the most prominent example of this. By the end of the decade Sargent had reclaimed his reputation, and later he devoted himself to war-themed painting, landscapes and watercolours. His works would come to be recognized for their emotional depth and refined technique. John Singer Sargent died in 1925 in London, England.