John Singer Sargent Art Prints

John Singer Sargent was born in Florence during an interval in his American parents' non-stop European safari of shmooze. His doctoring dad and water-colouring mum then continued their merry-go-round thus ensuring little John was exposed to huge amounts of ART (the poor kid didn't stand a chance).

By the time he'd finished studying with Carolus Duran, checking out Velasquez and cosying up to some Impressionists, he'd become a dab hand at portraiture and was networking the Western World's richest and raciest, scoring lucrative commissions right, right and centre, eventually adding Rockefeller and two American Presidents to his hit list of big spenders.

In 1884, John's portrait of Virgine Gautreau, or 'Madam X', was rejected by the Paris Salon because it was thought to be too erotic, but apart from wearing her 'big black' number and flashing about four hectares of provocatively engorged nose, 'Madame (is that a lay figure up your smock or are you just disappointed to see me) X', was about as raunchy as a post-orgasmic TV weatherman. However, the kerfuffle caused John to cry 'Dagnab it fickle Frogs, I'm off to Limey land!' where he continued to reinvent the fizzogs of the financially flush, pausing occasionally to raise some much-loved perennials like 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose'.