Adam Hare’s Reviews > Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X > Status Update
Adam Hare
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Davis keeps saying things like “the way Sargent painted this man or woman clearly shows that he was in love with them” and then in the next paragraph says how important each of those flattering paintings were to furthering his career. Both can be true—it’s just that Davis asserts rumors without evidence. Claiming that he’s the model for Oscar Wilde’s Basil Hallward requires some citations!
— Jul 07, 2025 01:02PM
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Adam Hare
is starting
I’m glad topics like this are getting covered, but I would’ve preferred a more scholarly work. Do we need to speculate on if Sargent had a crush on every woman he painted?
Davis accepts uncritically a concept of hereditary “insanity,” which she does not elaborate on, and underplays the fact that Madame X’s family owned 150 slaves. She confuses “whale sperm” with “sperm whale” in re: ambergris.
— Jul 07, 2025 12:27PM
Davis accepts uncritically a concept of hereditary “insanity,” which she does not elaborate on, and underplays the fact that Madame X’s family owned 150 slaves. She confuses “whale sperm” with “sperm whale” in re: ambergris.
