john singer sargent, painters, american painters, paris salon, painters in paris, artists, art, portrait artists

Conjure a painter who possessed all the qualities of a true bon vivant – youthful charm, sophistication, good looks, and bold ambition. Such accolades are startling considering they defined a precocious 18-year-old American who managed in one extraordinary decade (1874 to the mid-80s) of his stay to create portraits and figure studies to dazzle the harshest critics of the Paris Salon.